Courage, Avery and the Bracelet of Nowhere
by hardrocker21
Summary: After losing her parents, Avery is invited by her aunt Muriel to live with them to help her start over. But on her first day in Nowhere, Avery obtains a mysterious bracelet that helps her see all of the creep things in Nowhere as she and Courage try to keep Eustace and Muriel safe. WARNING: Basically a retelling of the series and can be OC and Courage centric. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
1. Welcome to Nowhere

"Nowhere, Kansas next stop! Nowhere, Kansas next stop!" shouted the driver of a dusty old bus.

Avery sighed in relief at the sound of the next stop. She HATED traveling on the bus, she did. She hated the smells that it gave off, like burning oil and garbage. She hated the sounds of the people as they murmured about and the aggression they expressed over any petty thing.

And the kids, oh the little kids. Don't even get her started on them. Even at the age of twenty-five, she had an ire towards kids.

She hated the noise of the kids as they jumped all about while their parents just sat there inattentive and kept their noses stuck in their books, magazines or simply just staring out the window at nothing in particular. Especially when one of the brats would run up to her and get in her face or try to take something that belonged to her.

Now she didn't hate kids per say, far from it. She just didn't like them either. She understood the appeal of kids, but decided a long time ago that it wasn't for her. She decided that the single life in Florida was good enough for her.

Sure she had still stayed with her parents, but managed to maintain a steady job while remaining close to them. That was until about two weeks ago, when she received a devastating phone call in the middle of her shift.

As the bus rattled along, she reached into the bag sitting next to her and pulled out a photo of her, a smiling middle aged man with similar hair to her and a smiling middle aged woman with a caring look on her face. All with their limbs wrapped around one another as if their very lives had depended on it.

Avery looked at the photo intently as a tear slid down from her eye and she ran one of her hands through her sandy blonde hair.

"I really miss you guys," she whispered to the picture and held it to her chest.

Some time passed and before too long, she saw the sign she'd been waiting so long for.

'Welcome to Nowhere'

She breathed a sigh of relief as the bus rattled along and shortly after, began to screech to a halt. As soon as the bus doors slid open, she stood up from her seat, making sure to grab her bags from the seat beside her and her guitar case from the rack above her.

Even though it had been years, she still vividly remembered her great-aunt teaching her to play some stringed instrument called a sitar from years before. It had gotten her interested and had been eager to learn it herself. But the price for a sitar had been too much for her parents at the time. So they had settled for her father's old guitar instead. He had even been the one to teach her to play it. Avery couldn't help but smile at those old memories.

With a deep breath, she stepped off of the bus and out into the warm sunlight of the town. Like many small mid-American towns, not much had changed in the years since she had last been there. It still had the same rustic small town feel that it had been since she was little. The same beat up old cars rumbling up and down the street, the same weird looking residents as any city in the world did, the pig running the supermarket.

Normal life for this town at least.

As soon as the bus had closed up and departed, she set off to look for the nearest telephone booth.

* * *

In the meantime in an old farmhouse some distance outside of the town, an elderly lady was busy cleaning the living room of the old house as a purple furred dog busied himself with the dusting as well. The only other occupant of the house, an old man, sat in an arm chair and was casually flipping the channels on the TV. Hardly anything was on and most of the time he had to adjust the volume on the set as the roar of his wife's vacuum constantly drowned out the noise from the TV.

Finally he set down the remote and said, "Muriel, turn down that racket."

His wife, Muriel, shut off the vacuum and said, "Sorry Eustace, but I need to get the house clean. We have family coming over soon."

Eustace grumbled and said, "Big deal."

"Now Eustace, you know how long it's been since we've had family here that didn't involve your mother. Please try to be nice to her while she's here," Muriel tried to scold her husband.

Eustace merely crossed his arms and said, "Blah blah blah!"

Muriel shook her head as the little dog let out a little whine.

Muriel merely patted the little dog on head and said, "Now Courage, there's no reason to be afraid. You'll like meeting Avery. It's been so long since we've seen her and I'm sure she'll love meeting you."

This made the little dog beam a little, but in his distraction, he had inadvertently dusted Eustace in the face, making the old man cry out. Courage looked up at the farmer's agitated face and he grimaced.

"Stupid dog!" the farmer growled out and reached into his back pocket.

Courage knew what was coming, but before he could do anything about it, out came the green tribal faced mask that Courage knew all too well.

Eustace popped it on his face, waved his arms and hollered out, "Ooga booga booga!"

Next thing he knew, Courage was screaming and running out of the room as Eustace laughed at the little dog's misfortune! He wasn't laughing for long however, as a rolling pin struck him on the back of his head, courtesy of his wife.

"OW! What did I do?"

* * *

Back in town, Avery walked out of the Nowhere bank in a huff as the pockets of her jeans jingled with coins.

"Stupid Nowhere bank," she muttered. "Just needed some change for the payphone. No, I gotta give them a twenty in exchange before they give me anything."

She reached into her pockets as she walked along the sidewalk and looked at the coins in her hand. At least she got the change she needed though, she just hated lugging around this large amount of quarters.

"Would have been much more convenient if I had just set up my guitar case and played it on the sidewalk. Oh well, live and learn Avery. Live and learn," she said.

It didn't take her long at all to find a phone booth. The town was so old fashioned that the phone inside was even an old rotary phone. Thanks to the phone book inside the booth, she was able to find the phone number to her Aunt and Uncle's place easily and quickly dialed their number up. It rang for a good few seconds before someone picked up on the other end.

"Yeah? Who is this?" came the voice of a gruff old man.

"Hi Uncle Eu-," she said.

Before she could get any further, the voice on the other end cut her off and said, "We don't want any? Lousy telemarketers."

She was then greeted by the sound of the phone being slammed down on the receiver. Avery jerked her head away from the phone at the sound of it and merely rubbed her hazel eyes and groaned in exasperation.

"Typical Uncle Eustace. Always annoyed by everyone and everything in life," she said and chuckled. She couldn't blame him being annoyed by constant telemarketers having dealt with them herself many times during the day and night.

Still she needed a ride to the farm in this blistering summer heat and so she had to try again. She popped another quarter into the phone and waited through the ringing again. After a few seconds, it was picked up once more. This time, a kinder and more gentler voice picked up.

"Hello?" came the voice of a sweet old lady.

"Aunt Muriel, it's me," she said into the phone.

She could feel the older lady beaming on the other end as she said, "Oh Avery, how are you dear? How much longer until you get here?"

Avery smiled and said, "Hi Aunt Muriel. I'm doing alright and I'm actually in town right now."

"Oh that's marvelous. Where are you in town? We can come and get you right away," Muriel asked.

Avery smiled and looked to see that she was just yards away from the entrance to the town's bank.

"I'm right by the bank. You know, the one Uncle Eustace hates. One I can now understand why," she said.

She heard her aunt giggle on the other end and she said, "We'll be there soon. The grocery store is just down the street from there. Wait right there for us and I can get some shopping done too."

Avery chuckled and said, "Sounds like a plan. I'll meet you guys there."

And with that, both sides hung up their phones. And Avery picked up her bags and guitar case and proceeded towards the grocery store.

* * *

Halfway down the street, someone had set up a little trading stand. The counter of the stand was covered in several different kinds of mystical objects. Medallions, some little metal trinkets, charms, a dream catcher, a couple of books. Even a crystal ball was sitting on top of the display. Behind the counter stood the owner of the stand. A little yellow Chihuahua woman was busily sweeping the area behind the counter. She had been set up for over an hour now and hadn't yet had a single customer. Then again since she was considered sketchy by even this town's standards, she wasn't fully surprised by this.

Her name was Shirley. A medium whom had used to spend much time traveling Europe, telling fortunes and contacting the deceased loved ones of many clients. Now here she was, stuck peddling wares for the residents of some backwater mid-western town. A mid-western town that occasionally got visits from all sorts of frightening monstrosities that many locals seemed to forget about in short order.

Then again, she supposed it could be worse. She could be stuck in the middle of a large city. She was so focused on her cleaning that she didn't see the young woman standing in front of her stand, trying to get her attention.

Avery cleared her throat to get the little woman's attention, but to no avail. The chihuahua didn't even look up from her sweeping, so Avery decided to try again. Still no response from the little woman. Now Avery was starting to become a little frustrated. All she wanted was to get this little lady's attention so that she could see if she had any other wares besides what she had out in front of her.

"Excuses me, miss?" Avery exclaimed, but still didn't get an answer.

So she picked a book up off of the stand and slammed it back down on the counter top. Now THAT got her attention. She looked up to see this young woman with hazel eyes looking back down at her.

"Yes? Can I help you?" Shirley asked.

"Sorry for startling you ma'am, but I was looking at your display here and I was wondering if you have more than just this," Avery explained.

Shirley scratched her chin and said, "Perhaps I do. Do you have the money to pay?"

Avery nodded and pulled out a few bills to show her. Not to mention she had a pocket full of quarters.

Shirley caught sight of them, nodded and said, "Very well then. Follow me."

Shirley walked away from the stand and walked over to what appeared to be a wagon that no one around here seemed to be noticing. Shirley pulled the door to it open and beckoned Avery inside. Avery felt a little apprehensive, but complied regardless. She stepped into the cart, remaining behind Shirley and could see the various apparatus that Shirley utilized in her day to day work.

"Wow! This stuff looks amazing," Avery said.

"NO!" Shirley scoffed. "Most of this stuff is junk. All junk I have collected from all over the world. You are free to look around and if you find anything you like, feel free to let me know and I'll give you a price. IF I'm willing to sell it that is."

Avery nodded and began looking around. The cart wasn't very tall or wide, but that was alright for Avery. She wasn't very tall, only standing at five feet and two inches, and only had to kneel down just a little bit to browse. She saw all sorts of different trinkets. More medallions and books of course, but she also saw what looked like chemistry equipment (likely alchemy equipment) and a couple of boxes of vials filled with various powders. Since she had no idea what these powders could do, she decided to avoid them entirely.

"Got anything... more appealing than this stuff?" she asked.

Shirley rolled her eyes, pointed at a particular shelf and said, "Look under the shelf there. You might find a box of collectibles."

Avery did just that and reached beneath the shelf that Shirley was pointing at. As she stuck her hand underneath the shelf and felt around, she felt her hand scrape against a small wooden trunk. She dragged it out and quickly opened it up. The box wasn't very big so she scanned the items of the box very quickly, mostly a bunch cheap little books that can be found at any dollar store, but then her eyes settled on a little velvet case that was tucked into one corner of the box. She picked it up and held it up to her eyes, she could swear that she even felt the case vibrating in her hands. She opened it and her eyes practically glowed as she beheld the contents inside.

Inside the case was a small silver bracelet, big enough to fit her wrist, that was embedded with little violet gems that she couldn't tell if they were real or not. Not that she cared that they were real or not, she loved how it shined in the light of the room and how it practically glowed in her eyes. Something like this must be valuable.

She turned back towards Shirley, who was back to going through her own items, deciding and what could be sold or what she'd want to keep.

"Excuse me ma'am? How much for this?" Avery asked as she turned back to Shirley and pointed at the bracelet in it's case.

Shirley turned towards Avery and got a good look at what the girl was holding. As Shirley laid her eyes on the bracelet, Avery could swear that Shirley's eyes widened a little bit, but went back to normal just a second later.

"Nothing," said Shirley.

"Excuse me?" Avery asked.

"Take it. No charge," Shirley answered.

"Are you sure? Because it looks val-," Avery started, but was cut off.

"No. Charge. Now please leave me be," Shirley responded.

Avery shrugged and began walking out with the bracelet and case in tow, but before she was all the way out she could hear Shirley calling out to her once more.

"Just one little condition. Never and I mean, NEVER wear that bracelet. If you do, I cannot be held responsible as i have warned you," Shirley called back to her.

Avery looked back and asked, "Why? What'll happen."

Shirley shook her head and said, "I do not know, nor do I wish to. Just take it and bury it somewhere. Bury it far away, where no one will find it."

Avery wasn't really buying into what Shirley was saying, but figured that it would best to humor her and not make herself look rude in the process.

"I'll give it some thought. Thanks for the bracelet though, I needed something to make me feel better right now," she said.

"Whatever. Now go away and take that thing with you," Shirley said and Avery complied.

Avery backed out of the wagon a little and said, "Alrighty then. Thanks again."

Shirley watched her go and then watched her walk away from the door and she said to herself, "That bracelet is your problem now girl. Good-bye and good riddance."

* * *

Avery walked down to the store and sat with her stuff on the sidewalk, since the manager of the store wouldn't let her sit inside and possibly disturbing the other customers since she wasn't a local.

"Stupid pompous manager. Oh if only I had the power to, I'd make him eat his own words. Can't trust non-locals," she mimicked as she fumed. "Can't believe that we have to shop here."

She felt her one of pockets vibrate, surprising her a little. She stuck her hand into said pocket, but felt nothing inside. Nothing, but the case for the bracelet she just bought. But if she were looking inside, she'd have seen the manager getting conked on the head by his 'Rules' sign. But instead, she just sat there to wait for her family to show up.

She didn't have to wait too much longer before she spotted a beat up old pick-up truck driving her way. She had to cover her eyes, but she could easily make out the older lankier man driving the truck and there was no mistaking the old hat on top of his head. Not to mention that anyone who knew her, could recognize the bigger older lady sitting with him.

Avery smiled, stood up and waved to them.

"Aunt Muriel! Uncle Eustace! Over here!" she called to them.

The occupants of the truck spotted her and stopped directly in front of her. Her aunt hopped out immediately and in a fraction of a second, had her arms wrapped around the smaller girl and Avery's arms did the same with her.

"Avery! How are ya? It's been too long since we've seen ya," she said happily as a smile spread across her face.

Avery hugged as tightly as she could and said, "I know. I just wish it were under better circumstances."

Muriel frowned and said, "I understand. How are you getting along?"

Avery picked up her bags and said, "Doing fine I guess. Taking it one day at a time."

Muriel placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Well we're here for you if you need anything."

"Thanks Aunt Muriel," Avery said.

Avery heard an audible groan from the truck cab and looked at the old man inside.

"Can we hurry? This is taking too long," said the man.

Muriel wagged her finger at him and said, "Now Eustace please be patient. I still need to go in and pick up a few things. Avery will keep you company while you wait."

Eustace crossed his arms and said, "B'ah!"

Avery chuckled and said, "I missed you too Uncle Eustace."

It was here that her eyes were drawn to a purple dog that sat in the middle of the seat and he was looking up at her with a look of wonder plastered across his face.

"Oh, hello you," she said to the dog with a little wave.

The dog let out a little whine, but waved back anyway. Avery smiled at him and patted the top of his head.

"Not fond of strangers are you?" she asked and the dog shook his head.

Muriel smiled and said, "Ah so you've met Courage. I found him as a wee little pup in an alley in town a few years back. He's been living with us ever since."

Eusatce groaned and said, "He's just a stupid dog that got lost. Had to spend more money on dog food once he came around."

"Now Eustace, you know how helpful Courage has been around the house. He's earned himself a nice home with us," Muriel scolded Eustace who merely groaned once more. "Keep an eye on the both of them please. Your uncle likes to tease Courage. I just need to run in and grab a few things and then I'll be right back."

With that, Muriel walked into the store, leaving Avery alone with Courage and Eustace.

Avery waved at her uncle and said, "Hey!"

Eustace softened his expression a little and said, "Well, it's good to see some family every now and then. One who won't mock you for everything."

Avery frowned a little and said, "Still having issues with great-great?"

Eustace didn't respond and just sat there with his arms still crossed as he looked away.

"I'll take that as a yes then," she said and then turned back to her bags.

She grabbed the one containing her day clothes and her guitar case, but then she noticed something was off. She should have two bags and her guitar case. She remembered grabbing all of them off of them from the bus and carrying them with her. But now there was just the one bag and her guitar case sitting with her. Her bag containing her nightclothes was gone.

"Oh no! Where is it?" she said as she searched around.

"What is it now?" Eustace said as he and Courage turned in her direction.

"One of my bags is missing," she said.

"Big deal," Eusatce said and Courage looked worriedly at her.

Courage hopped out of the truck and sniffed at her remaining bag. Courage smiled a bit at the smell. Not surprising as Avery always kept it clean.

"What are yo-," she started, but then Courage went off, sniffing along the ground as he went.

He trekked away from the curb in front of the store and into the alley beside it. He followed the scent he had gotten off of Avery's bag and felt a little uneasiness sink in. The alleys around the town of Nowhere always made him felt a little uncomfortable as there could be anything hiding among the buildings and sometimes, he swore, he could see things moving around in the dark alleys. Not that he dared follow them any further in.

In mere moments, he came across a bag that looked similar to the one that Avery had had sitting on the curb. The difference is that it was laying on the ground, wide open with all of it's contents missing. Courage let out small groan, knowing that he had failed to get the new girl's belongings back. He merely closed it and carried it back to the truck.

Avery spotted her bag as Courage returned, checked it and was saddened to see that all of her nightclothes were missing.

"Oh no! Now I have nothing to sleep in," Avery said, yet took the time to pet Courage on the top of his head and hug the dog. "Thanks anyway little guy. It was nice of you to look for me."

Even Courage had to melt into the girl's embrace.

It was here that Muriel walked out of the market with a bag full of groceries. She noticed the case still sitting on the ground, Avery hugging Courage and and Avery's disappointed face.

"Oh my! What's going on here?" Muriel asked.

Avery looked up and said, "My bag of nightclothes went missing. Your dog here found it, but the clothes are all gone."

Muriel gave Avery a look of pity and said, "I'm sorry to hear that dear. Maybe I can loan you some of the old ones we have at home. You should be the right size for them."

Avery wasn't sure about this. She was flattered that her aunt was willing to help her with this problem, but she didn't want to impose either. She knew how kindhearted her Aunt Muriel was and was happy that she wanted to help out. But she wasn't sure if she was willing to take that much from her.

Muriel could see the uncertainty on Avery's face and said, "It'll be no problem Avery. We're family, it's our duty to help each other out."

"So long as she doesn't go begging us for money," Eustace said as he started up his truck when Avery got all of her belongings into the bed of the truck.

Avery climbed in beside him and said, "You won't have to worry about that Uncle Eustace. I like to get it my own way."

Courage climbed in after her as well and climbed into her lap. Muriel set the groceries into the bed of the truck too and the truck that drove off, rattling out of town the entire way.

As they left the town and started heading for the farmhouse, Avery reached back into her jean pocket. She could still feel the little case she had gotten just a little while earlier. She began to wonder just what the chihuahua woman had meant when she said to never wear it and to just bury it.

'What is she hiding with this thing? Why was she frightened by this? Do I even want to know? I'll have to think on this,' she thought to herself as the truck rattled back to the farm.

* * *

**So yeah, I know this chapter was very OC centric and I am going to warn you now that the next chapter is going to be as well. I just wanted to spend the first couple of chapters getting to know our OC before getting into the real meat of the story and getting things really started. I know some questions remain and I will try to answer them in the next chapter.**

**Avery belongs to my friend, xXBalorBabeXx as she is the one who came up with her name and description. I'm merely the one putting the story into words. **


	2. Getting Settled and a Stupid Mistake

**Well the story is doing better than I honestly expected it, so might as well get back to it. **

**Just a little heads up, I will do most of the episodes in order. But to start off, they will be a little out of order. Partly because of how I remember it, but also so that I can set stuff up to lead into following episodes.**

**On a further note, I won't be doing every single episode either. I'm sorry, but some of the episodes would be a bit too difficult to do justice with this story. I love some of the episodes so it does pain me to skip them. So instead, I'll be filling those in with original chapters that may or may not run concurrently with said episodes. **

* * *

It took about ten minutes or so for the truck to make it back to the farmstead that Avery would be calling home for the foreseeable future. Not that she minded as the sight of the farm brought back some old and mostly pleasant memories. Mostly memories that didn't involve her freaky cousin, but she'd rather not think about HIM right now. Instead, she couldn't help but smile brightly as the truck pulled up to the farm and parked up, just a stone's throw away from the farmhouse.

"Well Avery?" Muriel asked.

Avery chuckled and said, "It looks a lot like I remember."

"Yeah. It's falling apart more and more these days," Eustace said.

Avery frowned at her uncle's pessimism and said, "I'm sure you do a good job keeping this place together Uncle Eustace."

"Bah!" Eustace said as he shut off the truck. "Don't forget your stuff and don't drive me crazy with your guitar playing. I get enough of that hippy music as it is."

Avery just rolled her eyes as her uncle departed the truck and her aunt followed after as well, grabbing her groceries out of the bed of the truck. Courage hopped off of Avery's lap and padded towards the farmhouse as well. Avery was the last one to leave the truck and as she gathered her belongings, she got a good look at the area around the farmhouse. Land was as barren as when she was little, barn was still barely standing, farmhouse was well up-kept though. There was one thing missing that she vaguely remembered.

"Hey aunt Muriel, I thought you guys had chickens around here. Where did they go?" Avery asked.

Muriel scratched the side of her head and said, "We used to, but they all disappeared a couple of months ago. We still don't know where they went."

Avery could hear Courage cringe and she swore that she could see his heart pounding in his chest. Something must have spooked the poor little guy. She merely patted him on the head as she walked past him and gave him some sweet reassuring words as she went past. He seemed to calm down as Avery comforted him and was followed by Muriel doing the same.

Avery stepped into the house and took a deep sniff through her nose. The house still had that old wood grain smell that she was all too familiar with, even in her old home back in Florida. A pang of sadness began to run through her as she thought of home, but tried to push that back. There was no use in thinking about home, her parents or the past anymore. She took another deep breath and made sure to compose herself before anyone noticed, but could still feel a tear trying to work it's way out through her eyes.

"So? What do you think of the old place?" Muriel asked from behind.

Avery nodded and said, "Looks cozy. I think I can get used to this."

Muriel nodded as well and said, "Well that makes me glad. Go ahead and look around and make yourself at home while I prepare dinner. If you're looking for your room, it's up in the attic. I do recommend getting a nap in once you finish unpacking though. I can tell you've hardly slept."

Avery had been hoping for some place a little less spacious, but still it sounded better than living in a closet or a basement somewhere like she had been expecting. Back in Florida she had a fairly nice home and room. But that was no longer a viable home for her, so she should really take whatever she could get.

She gave an approving nod and said, "Good to know. Thanks."

Muriel accepted this response and walked out of the room with her groceries and back into the kitchen.

As for Eustace, he was already sitting back in his favorite armchair and was flipping through channels, getting more and more irritated as he continued flipping through the channels and not finding anything to watch. Avery decided that now would probably not be a good time to bother him. So she decided to just leave him alone and take her stuff up to her room.

She set the empty suitcase inside the closet under the stairs since she wouldn't be needing it now. Before she knew it, Courage was picking up her other suitcase, leaving her just the guitar case to carry up with her.

"Oh? Courage, you don't have to help me, I can take care of everything myself," she said, but Courage shook his head.

"Uh-uh," he grunted and proceeded up the stairs with her suitcase.

Avery picked up the guitar case and followed the little dog up that stairs, past a couple of doors and up another small stairs that led to a door at the top. She opened the door to a room that overlooked the entire farm. Inside the room there was a bed large enough for her, a wardrobe for her clothes and a computer sitting in the opposite corner of the room.

Who would be using a computer in this house?

The only issue was the heat, which was to be expected in a house this old. There was air conditioning, but it took time for it to cool down the room.

Courage took her case and set it down on the bed and Avery set her case on the floor next to the bed. She lied herself down on the bed and watched as Courage padded over to the computer in the corner. He booted it up and began typing away at it.

"A dog using a computer? Weird... but kinda cool," she said as she sat up.

Courage continued typing away and the computer let out a beep and said, "A new family member you say? Oh how quaint."

"What the? Who said that? Who else is here?" Avery said in surprise.

A chuckle came from the computer and said, "That would be me thank you very much. What the matter? Never seen a computer before?"

Avery shrugged and said, "Not that much. Never really owned one. Dad said that they cost too much and never got one for us. Plus the ones I did see had never talked before."

"Well I'M a top of the line model. I can communicate with almost anyone and can scan through many files in the blink of an eye. Just know that I am also very very condescending," the computer said smugly.

Avery narrowed her eyes at the computer and said, "Well that figures. I get a computer for a roommate and it's going to treat us like we're beneath him."

"I like to think of myself as a superior piece of technology really and less like a roommate as I'm technically not even alive you twit," the computer responded.

"HEY!" Avery hollered at the computer.

Courage glared and growled at the computer and began typing furiously.

"Okay okay, calm down now. No need to be pounding my keys. Look I can try to keep my scathing words to a minimum, but that can't be promised as I am just as I was programmed. So you might want to get used to it," the computer said with only SOME smugness this time.

Avery rolled her eyes and went back over to her bed. She opened her suitcase and began the process of unpacking, looking forward to a much needed nap afterwards.

* * *

Avery woke up a few hours later with Courage napping right beside her on the bed. He looked so sweet and peaceful while he was asleep, especially when one of his back legs twitched in his sleep. She carefully got up from the bed to keep from disturbing him, but patted the top of his head regardless. She stood up and looked out the window to see that the sun was already beginning to sink lower into the sky. Best she could figure is that it was close to dinner time about now and could practically smell the good food cooking below. She stretched a little and decided that now would probably be a good time to head downstairs, see if there was anything she could do to help her aunt.

She reached the bottom stair in the den to see that her uncle was asleep in his armchair and, to her surprise at least, her aunt was sitting on the floor with her sitar, strumming away at it. She leaned against the wall and listened intently as Muriel continued to play. This brought back some pleasant memories from when she was a little girl, always sitting intently while her aunt played her music. Not that her uncle ever cared for it, but it always made her feel calm, even when she was upset.

Oh how the years pass.

Before long, Muriel finished her song and Avery clapped quietly for her.

"Why thank ya Avery. Glad to see you still like my playing," Muriel said with a smile.

Avery shrugged and said, "What can I say? I've always liked it. Even made me want to play it as well. But dad gave me a guitar instead."

Muriel laughed and said, "Aye, your father was always one to find ways to save money. Your mother married him for more than just his looks you know."

Avery couldn't help but laugh with her. It was too nice a moment for the sadness to overtake her again so the feeling entirely remained dormant.

"I thought you were making dinner though," Avery said.

Muriel nodded and said, "It needed to simmer for a while. It should be just about done now though. Do you mind setting the table while I put on the finishing touches?"

Avery scratched the back of her head and said, "I was kind of hoping we could play our instruments together while you still had it out."

"I'd love to right now Avery, but dinner will be ready in just a wee bit and your uncle isn't very fond of my music. I don't think he wants two instruments going right now. Especially when he's napping," Muriel said and pointed at Eustace.

That's when Avery remembered that while she and her parents had loved the sitar music, Eustace constantly complained about it whenever he got tired of hearing it. Not that it made Muriel stop, but they all knew better than to wake Eustace from a nap as his already nasty tendencies tended to get worse when he was roused from sleep.

Muriel put her sitar away and said, "So why don't you come help me prepare the table for dinner. By the time you're done, dinner should be ready."

Not having anything else to do, she shrugged and followed her aunt into the kitchen.

* * *

Dinner came and went uneventfully with all that happening was Avery's surprise of Courage sitting at the table, much to Esutace's ire. But he couldn't do anything about it while either Muriel or Avery were at the table. As soon as Muriel had served dinner, Avery practically tore into the chicken that Muriel had set out on the table. After spending several days on a bus with nothing to eat but snacks from various bus stops and greasy sandwiches from fast food dives once a day, she was excited at the prospect of real food. But she had also forgotten just how good of a cook her aunt was and couldn't help herself to the chicken along with real mashed potatoes and gravy. In that moment, nothing in her life had tasted better to her.

After dinner, Avery made sure to help clear the table and even offered to assist her aunt with the dishes. Instead, Muriel thanked her for the help and took care of them herself, telling Avery that she needed to relax a bit more after her long journey and suggested she go and get a bath, saying that she'll have her nightclothes ready when she was done. Avery decided that that would probably be the best thing to do right now and walked out of the kitchen.

Eustace was already sitting in his armchair and was watching TV once again. Avery paused behind him and decided to observe what he was watching this time. It was some older horror about a vampire stalking people on board a sail ship and right now it was approaching the captain who was busy with the ship's wheel. Eustace was even laughing up a storm as the scene went along.

"Still like these old horror movies Uncle Eustace?" Avery asked.

Eustace's laughs calmed a bit and said, "Are there any other kinds?"

Avery had to shrug. She wasn't much into horror movies herself. The most recent one she had watched was about a group of students lost in the woods and looking for some witch out there. She had lost interest in it and had been dulled to the point where she actually fell asleep in the actual theater and had to be woken up by the cleaning staff after the show ended. But yeah, she could agree that these older films were much more entertaining and more well made anyway.

She chuckled and said, "I can't argue with you there."

"You can have your younger, prettier actors of nowadays. But they can't even begin to compare to the ones who actually knew how to scare you properly," Eustace said rather proudly for no particular reason.

"That I can't agree more with," she said.

She looked over at one corner of the room and saw that Courage was lying there, chewing on an anchor, AN ANCHOR of all things. She already liked the little guy, but couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking right now. She wanted to find out more, but now that she had some food in her, she could feel the exhaustion beginning to weigh her down. It had been days since she had properly washed and now would be the perfect time to do so. Without another word she went upstairs, grabbed a couple of towels from the closet under the stairs and proceeded up to the bathroom.

* * *

"Aunt Muriel? What are these?" Avery said while pointing at the bed, still wrapped up in her bath towel.

Muriel looked at the bed as she walked back in said, "Oh these are the nightclothes I promised ya. Is there something wrong with them?"

"They're nightgowns Aunt Muriel. Night. Gowns," Avery said, trying her best to not raise her voice.

Not that she was even that angry, but she just didn't exactly feel comfortable. Avery never was one for dresses or gowns for that matter. Sure she wore them from time to time on hot days or for special events, but that was about it. She had always preferred casual shirts and jeans or the occasional skirt. She had never really liked wearing one if it could be helped, but unfortunately right now it couldn't be.

"I'm sorry Avery, but it's all I have for ya. I just wanted to help," Muriel said in apology.

Avery let out a little sigh and said, "Sorry. It's not that I'm ungrateful, far from it. It's just... I don't like dresses that much."

"Neither did your mother, I tried to help her get a better feel for them, but it couldn't be helped with. She liked sleeping in them though and I know she'd want you to take her old ones," Muriel responded.

Avery looked back at the nightgowns in front of her, but now in a new perspective. These were her mother's nightgowns? That would explain why they were her size at least. Her aunt had kept them after all these years? She knew that her mother had practically lived on this farm when growing up as her parents had to travel for work a bit and her aunt had taken good care of her whenever they were away. And this reminded Avery of how close she and her mother had been. She had practically inherited most of her mother's looks and some of her personality traits as well. She appreciated her roots and her family more than anything, so she at least owed it to both her mother and aunt to suck it up and deal with the gowns.

"Fine, I guess I can bear with them," Avery said with a defeated sigh.

Muriel smiled and said, "Everything will be fine dear. At least they'll be good until we can get some replacement sleepwear for you that you're more comfortable with."

Avery nodded and turned her attention back to the clothes on the bed to get a better look at them. The first one she picked up was a gaudy pink color with lacy frills along the neckline and skirt. The part that got to her the most though was the skirt hardly went down the leg at all and ended around the upper thigh.

"What the heck is this?" Avery asked as her mouth began to hang open.

Muriel saw it and said with a chuckle, "Oh my! I forgot all about that one. Your mother got that during the mini-skirt craze of the 60's. She looked silly wearing it."

Avery tossed it aside and said, "Well it gets a no from me. Geez mom, what kind of standards did you have?"

Muriel wasn't bothered and picked up the old one and said, "I hope you find one ya like."

As Muriel left, Avery stood alone in the room and looked through the rest. The next nightgown was a white satin one with puff sleeves on the shoulders.

"I think I'll save this one for a warm night, not good for a sweltering one," she said as she tried to fan herself.

The air conditioner hadn't kicked on yet, so she was at the mercy of the summer heat in the attic for now. She passed on a long purple one and a black nightgown as well, opting to use those for a cooler night. Each one she came across she didn't care much for, because they just didn't seem suitable or she just plain old thought was tacky.

She was reaching the end of them when her eyes landed on a simple nightdress. It was white with thin straps on a sweetheart bodice, good for keeping the shoulders bare on a night like today. Moreover, while the skirt of the gown wasn't long per say, it at least came down to just above her knees and gave her legs enough room to move around. Not to mention that it would be good for keeping less heat on her skin.

"I guess this one could work," she said.

After removing her towel and preparing herself, she slipped the nightgown over her head and let the straps droop down and come to a rest on her shoulders. Sure enough, the heat of the room became much more bearable and the air brushing against her exposed skin felt so nice. The room still felt hot, but now it felt like she be able to sleep in it. She adjusted the nightdress to fit her more properly and took a moment to look down at herself and get a decent look at herself.

"Not bad. Looks like it works," she said to herself.

She picked up her towels and proceeded out of the room to throw down the laundry chute by the bathroom door. Along the way, she came across her aunt who was also preparing for bed as well. Avery gave her a nod and threw the towels down the chute as she waved at her aunt.

"Well it looks like you found one you like," Muriel said.

Avery shrugged and said, "Can't say I really like it, but I can tolerate it at least."

"Well it was your mother's favorite so I'd say you chose very well," Muriel said.

Guess it's true what they say, the apple truly doesn't fall far from the tree.

"Well that's interesting to know. Thanks for the gowns anyway," Avery said as she walked back towards the attic. It wasn't long before she heard the clanking sound of the air conditioner turning on. "Maybe that will take care of the heat at least."

She walked back into the attic and sat down on her bed, slipping some slippers onto her feet. She was about to lie down, when her eyes darted over to her jeans that she had set down right by the wardrobe. She should probably pick those up before going to bed and save her aunt some trouble. She stood back up from the bed and walked back over to her jeans. She picked them and out of the pocket tumbled the bracelet case.

"Whoops! Can't lose that now," she said as she picked it up.

But as she grabbed the case, it began to pulsate in her hand. Not a violent pulse, but one that was strong enough to make her curious. She opened up the case and peeked a look at the bracelet within. It looked the same as she had bought it earlier with it's silvery color and purple gems, but now she was practically mystified with the thing. She brushed the gems with the fingertips of her other hand and she swore that, for a moment, her arm was glowing. Taking a quick glance at the rest of her body, she swore that the glow surrounded her entire body and even her nightgown had taken on a bright sheen. She drew her hand back and the glow died down.

"What was that?" she asked herself quietly.

Now she was extremely curious about the bracelet. What WOULD happen if she were to put the bracelet on? It was big enough for her hand to fit through and she could remove it quickly afterwards if things began to feel wrong.

"What could it hurt?" she asked herself.

But then the mysterious chihuahua lady's words began to ring through her head one more time. That she should never put it on and that not even she knew what would happen if Avery did. But if she didn't know what would happen, how would she know if it really was that dangerous or if there really was any danger at all? She wasn't sure how to go about this.

The bracelet began to pulsate again and appeared to be shining even brighter than it had before. The temptation was becoming far too much for her and the pulses were getting stronger.

"Maybe for just a second and then I can pull it right off," she said.

And with that, Avery took the bracelet out of it's case and could sense the glow around her once more. She brought the bracelet close to the wrist of her right hand and narrowed her hand to allow it to slip onto her wrist.

Just as the bracelet had slipped past her fingers and the back of her hand, she heard the sound of the attic door opening and looked over to see Courage standing in the doorway.

His eyes were wide and he screamed, "NOOOOO!"

But before Avery could react to his scream, the bracelet slipped onto her wrist and the glow around her suddenly flared and enveloped the room in brightness. So bright that Courage had to look away from it and rub his eyes before they melted out of their sockets. When he looked back, the glow around Avery had disappeared and he was glad to see that she was completely unharmed. But now the bracelet on her wrist had shrunk in size and was clinging to the skin of her wrist right now.

Avery let out a startled gasp and grabbed the bracelet and tried tugging at it. However, the bracelet was stuck fast and wouldn't budge. She tugged harder and harder, but the bracelet wouldn't move in the slightest. It got to the point where tears began to form her eyes and she was practically kicking at the ground under her. But no matter how hard she pulled at the thing, the bracelet would not slip off of her wrist.

Courage was now in panic mode himself as he ran over to her and began babbling at her.

"Courage, what happened when I was putting this on?" Avery asked in a panicked voice.

Courage babbled some more and, to Avery's shock, morphed into a copy of the bracelet and then changed form into herself and then finally into the shape of a blank eye, before turning back into himself with a whine.

Avery stood bewildered by what had just transpired. Not just with the bracelet, but what Courage had just managed to do in front of her. But thanks to him, she was sure she had an idea of what had just happened regarding her and the bracelet.

"So I have two questions Courage. One, did my eyes go blank when I was putting this on? And two, how did you just do all that?" she asked.

Courage nodded his head, "Yes" and then shrugged, "I don't know."

Avery sat back down on the bed with a groan and stared at the bracelet on her wrist.

"So how do we fix this?" she asked out loud.

* * *

**So originally I was going make Avery's introduction to two chapters and move one with the rest of the series, but I had an idea for a couple of extra scenes and to keep these chapters from getting too long I decided to extend this into three chapters instead. And I promise, after that we'll get into the main series.**


	3. Seeking Help

**Hey everyone, I'm back. I'm really sorry for the delay, but with real life and some writers block getting in the way it's been difficult to write recently. So hopefully once this chapter is done, we can into the real stuff of the story. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.**

* * *

Avery groaned in frustration as she kept her wrist lying still on the table in front of her. For the past half hour, Courage had been working tirelessly on trying to remove the bracelet securely fastened around her wrist. He tried prying it off with a screwdriver, but it only resulted in the screwdriver breaking. Tried to file it down, but the file merely rubbed itself useless as he had scraped at the bracelet ferociously. Even used a jackhammer of all things to try to break the bracelet off of the girl's wrist. He had also intended on using an industrial strength form of acid, but Avery had stopped that before it really happened. Nothing that they had tried had worked. Scattered all over the table were the broken tools that Courage had used, but had been unsuccessful with. No matter what they did, the bracelet wasn't even scratched.

Finally, Courage had run out of tool options and had wailed when he saw that the bracelet hadn't even been disturbed in the slightest.

Finally Avery sighed and said, "Forget it Courage. We've tried all the tools in the house and then some. This thing is stuck fast."

Courage growled and grabbed her wrist and trying chewing on the bracelet himself. All it resulted in was his teeth just shattering like glass and breaking into pieces.

"Oh my! Courage? Are you okay?" she asked.

Courage merely gave her a thumbs up and a smile revealing all of his broken teeth and shard of teeth. She had to admit, it was kind of amusing seeing the little dog being so optimistic, even when he was clearly in pain. She couldn't help but feel grateful for his assistance.

"It's okay boy. We're just going to have to figure something else out," she said and raised her wrist to get a better look at her bracelet.

It still gleamed in her eyes as the lamp in the room shone upon the thing and the gems still glistened within it. There had to be a way to get this thing off of her and one that didn't result in hurting her. Even though it didn't damage her skin, it had still hurt when Courage had tried to pry the thing off of her. They knew now that brute force was not going to get this thing off, but what else was there? Maybe someone with more knowledge on it could figure something out.

Maybe from someone who had previously owned it.

"Wait! That medium," Avery said to herself.

"Huh?" said Courage, clearly not knowing who she was talking about.

Avery looked back at him and said, "When you guys were coming to get me, I met this medium in town. She let me into her place and that is where I found this thing. She... she warned me to not wear it... great, now I feel stupid. Still, she must know a way to get it off. We just need to go see if she knows how to help."

Courage nodded and ran off to the den. He returned a moment with the keys to the truck and gave a little babble to her.

"Courage, we can't go now. It's already late and the last thing I want is to bother anyone this late at night," Avery said as she pointed at the clock which was approaching eleven in the evening.

She felt the bracelet pulsate a little, rubbing against the sensitive skin on her wrist. She let out a groaned and rubbed the skin around the bracelet as a small amount of pain shot through her wrist.

Courage didn't wait, he immediatly lifted her off the ground and carried her out of the farmhouse and to the truck.

"Hey! Courage, what the heck?" Avery said, but before she could do anything Courage started the engine and immediatly took off for town.

Avery looked back and said, "You could have at least let me get changed first."

The bracelet pulsated again, and she winced as she rubbed the skin around her wrist again. Courage saw this, but didn't turn around.

* * *

Within a few minutes, they were driving back into the town of Nowhere. Avery had to admit, the town looked a bit more chilling at night and she couldn't help but shiver at the sight between the buildings. The fact that the air was now much cooler than it had been earlier that day didn't help matters either. She went to rub her shoulder, only to remember that she was still only dressed in the nightgown her aunt had given her. All she could do was hope that no one was looking out at them and could see her right now. Last thing she needed was that kind of embarrassment in her life right now.

The truck drove around one corner and Avery looked out and found exactly what they were looking for. She could see the medium's wagon, shuttered up for the night and the stand the medium had been using before was now gone.

"There, that's her wagon right there. I guess we should see if she's in," Avery said as she pointed out the window.

Courage saw the wagon ahead and pulled up to it. Once they were parked up, Avery cautiously left the truck and wrapped her arms around her torso. The wind blew a little, billowing the skirt of her nightgown and made her shiver just a little bit.

"Let's just get this over with," she said.

Courage nodded and then knocked on the door to the cart. They waited for just a moment, but there was no answer. Courage knocked again on the door again (a little harder this time) and was, once again, treated with no answer. He gritted his teeth in frustration and then knocked on the door much harder than ever.

"Go away! Come back tomorrow," came the voice of the medium inside.

"That's her," Avery said and then knocked on the door herself.

"Hello miss, I'm the girl who came by here earlier today," Avery said.

She heard the medium growl in frustration as well and said, "As I said. Come. Back. Tomorrow. Now go away and let me rest."

Avery knocked again and said, "Please, you have to help. I... I ignored your advice. I put the bracelet on."

It was here that they finally heard movement coming from the inside of the cart as they could hear that the medium was making her way through the wagon towards the door. The door to the wagon cracked and the medium peeked out at them and set her eyes on Avery.

"My goodness you foolish girl. Have you no shame? Coming to me dressed like that," Shirley said with ire in her voice.

Avery looked down at herself and began to blush. It wasn't like she had really been given a chance to dress more properly before she had been dragged out of the house. She simply wrapped her arms around her person a little tighter in a vain attempt to cover up a little bit more.

"I'm really sorry, but I kind of panicked. I didn't listen to your advice," she said and raised her wrist. "And I put the bracelet on."

Shirley saw the bracelet on Avery and said, "YOU FOOLISH GIRL! I gave you one, just one simple instruction that no one could have messed up and you went and messed it up. I should be sealing you in one of my crystals now, simply for being so incompetent, let alone the dangers you may have just unleashed on the world."

Avery's heart began to race.

"I'm sorry okay. Look I didn't know what would happen. I thought you were just telling jokes, I had no way of knowing what was going to happen," she said in a panic.

Shirley's glare lowered and she said, "Perhaps. Possibly I could have elaborated a bit more on the dangers. Fine, I will see what I can do. But there is one thing you must do first."

Avery nodded and said, "What do you need?"

Shirley reached for something behind the door and then threw something at Avery's head. Avery caught it and let it unfurl in her hands. In her hands was a white microfiber robe that reached down to her calves. She gave Shirley a look, wondering what this was about.

"Put it on before you come in. Your lack of proper attire offends my many charms," Shirley said and allowed Courage entrance.

Avery shrugged, but did just as Shirley ordered and slipped the robe on. Afterwards, she followed both Shirley and Courage into the wagon.

* * *

The smell of tea filled the air of the wagon as Shirley brewed some tea in her kettle and poured them into three different cups. They were all seated at a table in Shirley's wagon with a crystal ball sitting on top of it. The smell of the tea was much stronger than what Avery was used to. She didn't mind tea, but wasn't always fond of it and the bitter smell of the tea she was being served now certainly wasn't very appealing to her.

Shirley scooted a cup of the tea towards her and said, "Drink!"

Avery waved her hand away and said, "Thanks, but I'm good."

Shirley glowered at her and said, "I wasn't asking. You must drink the tea."

Avery wanted to protest, but knew that she couldn't lose the chance to get any help that she could get. So she nodded and sipped at the tea. The bitter taste of the tea was instantly overpowering and made Avery want to gag. She tried her hardest, but was barely able to keep a straight look on her face. She sheepishly smiled at Shirley and set the cup down on the saucer.

But Shirley still glowered and said, "All of it."

Avery frowned, not wanting to actually drink the stuff, but complied in the end. It was hard, but she was able to drink it all down and could feel her throat protesting through every last drop. When she was finished, she could feel her throat tightening from her gag reflex and her stomach was knotting from the bile she wanted to bring to the surface. She desperately wanted to throw up, but was somehow able to tap it all back down. After a few moments, the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach subsided and she took a few deep breaths. Yet the taste remained on the surface of her tongue.

Courage took a look at his cup of his tea, that he had yet to sip, and gently set it back down on it's saucer and pushed it away from himself.

Avery took a few more breaths and said, "Well, now will you help?"

Shirley drank her tea down and said, "Now that we've had our refreshments, we can take a look."

Avery frowned and said, "You mean I didn't have to drink that?"

Shirley shook her head and said, "No."

"So why did you make me drink it?" Avery demanded with a little fury to her voice.

Shirley smirked and said, "To see if you would actually listen to my instructions for once."

Avery's jaw dropped and she began running her fingers over her tongue, trying hard to get the taste of the tea off of it. Shirley couldn't help but chuckle a little at the sight.

"I guess not everyone can handle bitter root," Shirley said as she finished off her tea and pulled out a crystal. "Now to contain the power of that bracelet."

"Will that crystal take it's power?" Avery asked as she pointed at the crystal in Shirley's hand.

Shirley shook her head and said, "No my dear, this crystal is for you. YOU will be sealed inside of it. I'm sorry, but I cannot risk the power of that bracelet getting out and doing who knows what. Especially when it's in the hands of a foolish naive girl like you."

Avery's heart began to pound as Shirley's words sank in. There was no way she'd be going inside that thing. Her own reluctance however was dwindling as the crystal took on a purple glow.

Before Shirley could act though, Courage got between the two of them, shook her head and he whined, "No!"

Shirley scowled and said, "Out of the way dog. This is the for the good of everything in existence."

Courage remained rooted to the spot and shook his head while waving his arms. Shirley tried to remain stoic herself and tried to wait, but it was quickly apparent that he was not going to move away from his spot.

With a sigh, Shirley put the crystal away and said, "Fine, I won't seal her in the crystal. Not right now anyway. But you need to remember that there is a lot at stake here and if the power is not contained, then a lot would be at great peril."

"I get it," said Avery. "But can you please explain to me what THIS thing is?"

Shirley shook her head and said, "I'll tell you as much as I know. All I know about this trinket on your arm is that it's direct origins are a mystery even to myself. My mother gave that thing to me when I was but a mere child myself. She told me that it was an item of a past most mysterious and that the power of it is unmeasured. She says her own father had worn it and the power had ruined him. She never wore it, I never wore it. But I have felt the temptation many times, so I hid it away and forgot where I had hidden it."

Avery could feel her blood begin to run cold.

"Then when you found it and showed it to me, I wanted you take it so that I could be rid of the thing and be free of it's curse," Shirley continued.

Avery could feel her heart hammering in her chest and her breath began to go shallow. That was why she had been warned to not wear the bracelet. Now she was really starting to feel afraid. And then anger began to rise in her.

"So why didn't you tell me about any of this when I got it?" Avery asked. "I would have left it here."

Shirley glared at Avery and said, "Would you have believed me if I had told you the truth? Besides, I gave you clear instructions to get rid of it somewhere where no one could find it. But clearly they were too complicated for you foolish child. I'd have gotten rid of it myself, but then I would know where it was and then the temptation would have returned. All I could hope was that someone would listen to me. Clearly that was foolish of even me to consider."

Now Avery really felt stupid. It was true that Shirley had given her VERY simple instructions, but she had chosen to remain ignorant of them and instead had deliberately violated them. Now she could have endangered her own life and the lives of any number of people thanks to her stupid decision. Maybe she really did deserve to be sealed in crystal. Courage and her family might not like it, but she'd rather lose her freedom than endanger them. Then again, what if there was another way.

"Has anyone ever tried to control it?" Avery asked.

"Pardon?" asked Shirley.

Avery lowered her wrist again and said, "Has anyone ever tried to control the power of the bracelet?"

Shirley shook her head and said, "Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

Avery tapped one of the gems on the bracelet and asked, "What if it could be controlled? Use the power in limited quantities, let it get accustomed to me. Maybe I can keep it from ruining me or anyone else."

Shirley scratched her chin and said, "Perhaps. It would be very dangerous and maybe impossible to do. Are you willing to take such a risk?"

Avery took a deep breath and said, "I'm willing to give it a chance and if I fail..."

She took a glance at the crystal that Shirley had pulled out.

"If I fail... I give you permission to seal me away," Avery said.

Courage looked back at her and whined, "No!"

Avery patted him on the head and said, "I know that upsets you Courage, but it may be the only way to prevent something worse from happening. I'll do anything to keep you, the family and everyone else safe."

Shirley pondered it for a moment and said, "Fine, but I get to choose when I think you are failing in your quest. If I even suspect you of failing in your endeavor, you will be sealed. No exceptions, no second chances."

Shirley then stuck out her hand and asked, "Do we have a deal?"

Avery took a moment to think about what Shirley had said and what they'd mean for her. If she agreed to this, there'd be no going back. She'd have to try really hard to make the power in the bracelet obey her and keep itself from going crazy. To keep it contained and controlled. If she failed, she could say goodbye to her family and her life. Then again, would that be as bad as any worse alternative. She didn't want to lose her freedom, but she had put herself in this position so she had to get herself through it.

She grabbed Shirley's hand, gave it a shake and said, "Deal."

Courage whimpered in despair and hopped off of his seat. But as he hopped off, he got a good look at some jars that were stacked on a shelf just behind him. Jars containing embalmed lizards and frogs, eyes floating in fluids. Even one that looked like it had a pickled none cold-blooded animal inside. Then there were the insects. The many many demonic looking insects.

All over town, the moon shattering scream could be heard.

* * *

The drive back to the farm was done in awkward silence. Courage sat in the driver's seat with a look of awkwardness plastered on his face while Avery just sat stoic. Despite the demeanor she was displaying, she felt just as embarrassed as Courage was feeling.

"At least everything in those jars were replaceable. Seriously though Courage, where did you learn to scream like that?" she asked.

Courage shrugged and grunted, "I don't know."

Avery looked back at him and could see the worried expression in his eyes, even as he took a glance at her. She knew what was bugging him and she couldn't blame him for it.

She patted the top of his head and said, "I get that you're worried about me Courage. But you need to remember that whatever happens, it'll be my choice in the end. If i have to spend an eternity inside a crystal, then so be it. It'll be better than placing many people in danger because I did something completely unavoidable."

Courage nodded solemnly.

It took them little to no time to get back to the farmhouse. By now it was just after midnight and the house was completely silent. As Avery and Courage crept up the stairs, they could hear the snoring and soft breathing coming from Eustace and Muriel's bedroom. So at least they hadn't woken up during their time out of the house and worried for them. She certainly didn't need them worrying about her either.

She gave Courage a smile and a pat on the head as he slipped into their room to ensure that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Avery crept past their room and back up into her attic bedroom, which was much cooler now than it had been before.

She prepared to slip into bed when a voice chimed in, "So, have a nice time out?"

She groaned aloud and said, "Not right now. I'm not in the mood for any of this."

"I'd rather we do talk now. You look distressed about something," the computer said back.

Avery shook her head and slipped into bed.

"Well I'm not in the mood for this. Just do me a favor, shut up and leave me alone for the rest of the night. Whatever you want to talk to me about can wait until tomorrow morning," she said as she lied her head on the pillow. "So please just shut up."

With that, she pulled the blanket up to her neck, closed her eyes and went straight to sleep.

The computer beeped and said, "Fine, but don't come crying to me if you lose your struggle."

The computer's screen went blank and silent as it turned off for the evening.

Avery simply ignored him. She slept peacefully and silently thought about how she would proceed with her plans. She even wondered what the future held for her here in the Middle of Nowhere and what kind of things would happen. She would only know as time went on.

She silently slept and didn't wake up. At least not until the next morning when she heard her uncle screaming, "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME TOOLS?!"


	4. Avery and Courage Meet Bigfoot

**Wow! First episode is posted in short order. Crazy right? Might not be very common, but I'll try to get these chapters up as soon as I can.**

**I should also note that episodes will be posted a little out of order and I'm mostly basing it off of memory to the best of my ability. So please bare with me and just know that I won't be doing every single episode of the show. But should be doing as many as I can.**

* * *

A week had passed since Avery's arrival at the farm and to say that she was happy would be a vast understatement. Sure her uncle still drove her nuts from time to time and she saw the occasional out of place object running around during the night. But overall, the fact that she had her aunt and Courage helped make things much more bearable. She was at least glad that she still had her more calm moments with Eustace.

The major downside though, was the ornament that was still stuck fast to her wrist. She had tried everything she could think of to get it off of her wrist which included using various lubricants and oils. However, all that they managed to do was cause some chaffing around her wrist and add a little pain to her frustration. So she eventually stopped trying to get it off and could only hope that Shirley could somehow find a way to help her out of this circumstance.

But for now, she figured it would be best to move forward and try to live as normally as possible in this weird place. Hopefully an answer would come in time.

* * *

It was early evening one night and everything was mainly calm around the farm. Eustace and Muriel were sitting in the living room, watching one of the classic horror movies that they both loved so much. Courage was in the kitchen, getting himself a snack of pie and milk. And Avery was sitting up in her room in the attic, strumming on her guitar so that Eustace wouldn't be bothered by her playing. Just as she and Muriel had predicted, Eustace was not a fan of her guitar playing as much as he wasn't a fan of Muriel's sitar music. So would simply have to make due in her room or out on the farm somewhere far away from him.

She was just beginning the opening chords of a classic folk song she that she was familiar with, when she swore that she could hear some rattling sounds coming from outside. She stopped playing for a moment and perked her ear up to listen in a little more carefully. Definetly sounded like something was messing with the trash cans.

"Wind must be rattling them right now," she said with a shrug and went back to playing her music.

Things only got worse however as the rattling sounds became louder clatters, followed by a loud raspy roar. Now she knew that something had to be up. She set her guitar down on her bed, walked over to her window and peered out to see that something was digging through trash... and swallowing large handfuls of garbage.

Avery couldn't help but gag as she watched this thing eat the trash, not that she could get a good look at whatever was out there but could tell what it was doing very easily. The idea of something, anything rummaging around in old dirty cans and actually EATING handfuls of rotting trash with all sorts of wriggling bugs and mold within made her want to puke her dinner up all over the floor. Thankfully she was able to tap it back down and made her way out of the room and ran down the stairs.

By the time she reached the landing, she could already see Courage pointing towards the kitchen with a scream. And this was followed by Courage morphing into a dinosaur as it went on a rampage of death and destruction.

'So Courage must have seen it too,' Avery thought to herself.

To no one's surprise, Eustace merely laughed at Courage and called him, once again, "Stupid dog."

Muriel however was a lot more tactful as she glared at Eustace and calmly asked, "What is it Courage?"

Courage kept prancing about the floor in terror and she could hear him trying to gasp out the word, "Help" over and over again. Muriel decided that maybe it wouldn't hurt to see what was troubling Courage so much, so both she and Avery went with him to see what had happened outside. When they stepped out the backdoor, whatever had been feeding on the trash was gone, but it had left the shredded remains of the trashcans behind with garbage either spilling out of the cans or strewn about. Avery gulped at the sight, but Muriel was unfazed.

"Oh it's just the raccoons Courage. They must be hungry," she said and then walked back inside.

But both Courage and Avery stood on the doorstep, looking at the wrecked garbage cans and strewn about trash.

Avery looked down at Courage and said, "You saw that thing too, didn't you boy?"

Courage nodded his head with a whine.

"I don't know what Aunt Muriel is thinking, but THAT... that was no raccoon," she said and Courage nodded in agreement.

They both stepped back inside and they were greeted by the sweet smell of Muriel's baking. She was in the middle of baking one of her delicious blackberry pies and the smell could practically drive anyone mad with hunger. Especially those with a sweet tooth. For a moment, Avery was able to forget about what had just happened and focused on her aunt taking the pie out of the oven and setting it down on the windowsill to cool.

"This is our lovely dessert for tomorrow you two," she said as she patted Courage on the head and walked off.

But both Courage and Avery could tell what the other was thinking and that was hoping that would make it to tomorrow.

* * *

Hours passed and most of the house was asleep by this point. Eustace and Muriel were sound asleep in their room while Avery was sleeping lightly in hers. Part of her mind was still going back to those wrecked trash cans. Part of her wanted to believe that she had simply mis-seen what she had seen out there earlier and that it really was a just a raccoon that she had seen, but even in Florida she had seen raccoons in the dark and they certainly didn't stand tall and eat handfuls of garbage at a time. She hoped that her mind was simply playing games with her, but that seemed more and more unlikely as she continued dwelling on it.

In time she heard a loud crash coming from downstairs and the sound startled her back up in bed. She sat frozen in her bed as the realization began to hit her and hit her hard. What if that thing had returned and what if it had broken into the house.

She began to shake her head a little and said to herself, "Calm down Avery. You're becoming just as worrisome as Courage."

But then again, Courage hadn't steered her wrong yet and he had seen that thing out there as well. So she at least owed it to him to see what had caused that sound. Knowing him, he'd be running towards it as well. So she stood up and pulled herself out of bed. She rushed out the attic and zipped down the stairs. But by the time she reached the living room, her aunt was just leaving the kitchen with a look of slight amusement on her face.

"Aunt Muriel? Is everything okay?" she asked.

Muriel nodded and said, "Everything is fine dear. Courage just wanted a snack and accidently dropped the pie."

"Oh?" Avery exclaimed.

Muriel patted her hand and said, "Nothing to worry about, I'll bake a fresh pie in the morning. Sorry you were bothered dear."

With that, Muriel sauntered back up the stairs to her room. Avery was not fully convinced of Muriel's explanation though and ventured into the kitchen herself anyway. Inside she saw Courage was looking out the window, peering across the dark farm with pie filling dripping down his head.

"Courage? Are you okay boy?" Avery asked.

Courage looked at her and nodded, pulling a little bit of the pie filling off of his head and eating it. He still had a look of worry on his face though and it didn't calm Avery's nerves.

"Was something out there?" she asked.

Courage nodded his head fretfully.

She smiled at him and said, "At least it's gone for now. Now lets try to get this mess cleaned up so that we don't have to hear about it in the morning."

Courage looked at the smashed remains of the pie and chuckled nervously. Avery made sure to grab the broom and dustpan while Courage helped her mop up the mess. As they finished, Avery took her turn to look out the window. She saw nothing out of the ordinary and just saw a calm family farm in the middle of the night. But just because she couldn't see anything now, didn't mean that there wasn't anything out there. She looked back at Courage who was proceeding out the kitchen. She knew that, as a dog, Courage had sharper instincts than her. If he sensed that something was out, then there very likely was.

* * *

The next morning came without any further incidents. Murial had been so grateful for Avery and Courage cleaning up the mess, that as soon as breakfast had finished she had set straight to work on making the new pie. Avery had offered to help, but Muriel had turned the offer down and told her that cleaning up the kitchen had been enough. So Avery went back into the living room to watch the morning news with her Uncle Eustace.

It contained the usual weather and local sports, which wasn't very much so she hadn't been very interested in what they had to say. That is until the anchor had mentioned something about a Bigfoot being spotted around their area. At the mention of the name, she, Courage and Eustace leaned in closer to the TV to listen in even better.

"He's been terrorizing Nowhere. Now we know the cause of all of them disasters," he said as he displayed photos of various infamous disasters on screen.

Avery rolled her eyes and said in her head, 'How did this guy get into journalism?'

The anchor continued by saying, "We have proof positive that Bigfoot is here."

He pulled up a picture of a giant footprint that made everyone in the news studio gasp at the sight. Even she and Eustace had to gasp at it. Courage's eyes even widened at the sight. Now she began to worry a bit and she could tell Courage was thinking the exact same thing.

The news anchor removed the picture and said, "I hear tell, a reward is being offered by the Nowhere Museum."

Now it was Avery and Eustace's turn to go wide eyed.

"A reward?" Eustace said.

Avery giggled and said, "What kind?"

"Twenty-five dollars and a lifetime membership," the newsman said enthusiastically.

Avery's excitement dropped flat, but Eusatce was still ecstatic.

Eustace cheered and said, "A lifetime membership? Ya-hoo." He began jigging a little in pre-mature celebration.

"Couldn't they have sprung for some extra money though? I'd probably make more money selling pictures to them or the media," Avery stated and an idea began to form in her mind.

Eustace ignored her question and jumped up in glee. This caused him to throw his back out.

Avery shook her head in annoyance to him. She knew how greedy her uncle was and she hated to admit, but she tended to share his love of money from time to time. Thankfully she had a better sense of judgement than he did though, so at least to date her greed hadn't caused her as many problems as it tended to cause him. Not yet anyway.

"If anyone has any information about any strange doings lately, contact us," the newsman finished.

'Take your pick,' Avery said in her head and looked down at her bracelet. 'Maybe I should let them know about this.'

She considered it for a moment, but decided against it. That would really infuriate Shirley no doubt and would truly seal Avery's fate. And she had no intention on spending eternity inside a crystal.

Even with his back out, Eustace was still pretty excited.

"A reward! A reward and a lifetime membership to boot! Oh baby!," Eustace said gleefully as he ignored the pain in his back.

The newsman continued by saying, "But my friends, be careful."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Avery stated.

Muriel stepped into the room drying her hands asking, "What's all the excitement?"

Eustace still held his back and said, "I'm gonna get me a Bigfoot." He laughed gleefully.

He walked off still spouting about a reward and the lifetime membership.

Avery looked back at her aunt and asked, "Do you guys still have that Polaroid camera. I'm going to see if I can get pictures of something. Even if they don't turn out the best, the photos might mean a lot to a satirist paper."

Courage looked at quizingly and she said, "Hey at least it's better than looking foolish on the news. Something Uncle Eustace could learn from."

Muriel pointed at the closet and said, "I think it should be in there. Why? Is something wrong."

Avery shook her head and said, "No. Just a good opportunity to make some money. Or a new hobby at least."

Muriel smiled and said, "Well it sounds better than one of Eustace's get rich schemes. Take the camera and good luck dear."

Avery smiled and went for the closet.

* * *

A little bit later, both Avery and Courage were searching the area around the farm. Courage was examining the ground with a magnifying glass while Avery was carrying around the camera her aunt had given her for anything good to photograph. She had already taken some pictures of the damaged trashcans and hoped that those could be a good lead in for whatever they found. It wasn't until she heard Courage howling that her concentration was broken.

She saw him running back to her while screaming and he stopped in front of her. He pointed at where he had come from and was babbling like crazy.

"What? What did you find boy?" she asked as she knelt down to him.

Courage then morphed into a giant foot and stamped into the ground over and over again before turning into a giant feral looking creature, or Courage sized giant monster at least, before he went back into his normal look and whimpered as he continued pointing at the area behind him.

She looked back at where he was pointing and could see that something was in the ground back there.

She looked Courage square in the eyes and said, "Show me."

He took her back over to where he had come from. He ran ahead quickly, but she followed after him quickly to keep a short distance between them. He pointed at the ground and whined once more.

Avery's eyes went wide and quickly took several pictures of the thing in the ground.

"What did this?" she asked as she snapped the photos.

Her aunt blamed raccoons which could explain the mess of the trash cans. But since when do raccoons leave giant footprints in the ground?

* * *

Back at the house, Eustace was going through his various trap items that he was planning to use in his hunt and was marking them off on his checklist. That is until Courage ran in and began babbling to Eustace, morphing into a giant monster foot and pointing back out the door as Avery stepped in.

Eustace merely rebuffed Courage and then the doorbell rang and was swiftly followed by someone knocking on the door before ringing the doorbell again. Whoever it was must have been desperately waiting for someone to answer the door.

Eustace, annoyed by the disturbance, walked over to the door, threw it open and rudely said, "We don't need any."

Standing on the porch was a little old lady. She had a worried expression on her face like she was looking for something and desperately needed to find it. Didn't help that she looked as helpless as one could look.

She looked up at Eustace and said, "Please mister, my little boy is lost. You seen my little boy?"

Avery was mentally groaning.

'Great, we have a Bigfoot in the area and now there's a lost kid running around here? I don't need this right now,' she thought to herself, but almost immediately afterwards, her mind began to scold her viciously.

'Oh shut up! I know you don't like kids, but shouldn't you at least be a little worried? I know you don't like them, but one could be in danger now. Do you really dislike kids that much?' she asked herself. 'I don't know what to think.'

Eustace however was less tactful as he angrily stated, "Ain't seen no lost boy." He then slammed the door in her face.

Avery couldn't help but groan at her Uncle's rudeness. Especially since the lady was looking for someone.

"Who was that?" asked Muriel as she walked into the room.

Eustace walked right past Muriel and simply said, "Nobody."

He began gathering up all of his things and prepared to set out on his Bigfoot hunt.

"Hey Uncle Eustace. I know you are adamant on catching this catching Bigfoot thing, but just hear me out real quick. What if we just took pictures of him? It would mean more money and possibly a little extra fame if we sold them to major newspaper," she said as she held up the photos that she had already taken.

Eustace turned away and said, "Bah, stupid photos. That won't give me my lifetime membership. That Bigfoot is worth more to me than some stupid pictures."

Avery just huffed in aggravation.

Eustace finished gathering his things and said, "Gonna get me a Bigfoot," as he walked out the door.

Muriel still din't know what to make of the scene, but could tell by the rising anger on her niece's face that a distraction was in order.

"Come on you two, let's have some pie," Muriel suggested as she walked back into the kitchen.

Avery's anger began to diminish at the suggestion of pie. Like most problem's in life, pie was a good temporary solution to whatever plagued someone. And she could tell by the smile on Courage's face that he seemed to have the same idea as well. But as the two of them walked into the kitchen, their jaws just hit the floor.

Standing the middle of the kitchen was the one that the two had been searching for. His fur a reddish brown and hairy feet so large. A grey beard adorned his chin while his eyes were a mix of blue and white. He stood at a slight hunch and stood about as tall as Muriel, who was currently feeding him an entire pie.

He turned his head and saw both Courage and Avery standing in the doorway. As predicted, Courage began to scream. The creature roared back at him and they could see the sharp teeth in his mouth. He certainly looked and sounded like the creature they had seen the night before.

The screaming and roaring went on and Avery took the time to step away from the door in case things were about to get dangerous. As soon as the roaring stopped, Muriel took the time to offer Avery a cup of tea which she gladly accepted.

Turns out that Avery made the right move as Courage grabbed a watermelon and chucked it at the creature. The watermelon struck the beast in the head and in retaliation, he grabbed one of the pies and chucked it Courage who just barely dodged the pie.

"Hey! We were going to eat that," Avery complained.

But the duo ignored her and began throwing more food at one another, even setting up their own defenses. Back and forth, over and over again the two threw food at one another. Neither making a strike as lucky as Courage's first throw, but making a mess of the entire kitchen. Avery had originally been concerned, but Muriel held her back. She simply made some tea and gave a cup to her niece. So the two casually sat by and watched the chaos unfold. Avery had to admit, it was amusing to watch. She just hated that so much food was being wasted in the process.

Finally, a huge mess of fruits went flying about the room. A banana hit the radio and turned on some random dance song while the rest flew to both Courage and Bigfoot, covering them in fruit in a way that the two looked like a couple of hula dancer's wearing fruit on their heads. The two, amused by the current looks then proceeded to step into the center of room and began dancing goofily to the music.

Avery had to admit, she was very entertained by what she was watching. A dog and a creature with fruit covering their head, dancing to some song that was playing on the radio. Wasn't much of a dance either, just the two of them shaking their bodies to the music that was playing. It wasn't something special, but Avery couldn't help but laugh as she watched. She even took the time to snap a few photos of the scene. This scene was pure gold.

Too bad the amusement didn't last very long.

Suddenly, the back door opened and into the kitchen, stepped Eustace.

"Hey! What's for dinner?" he called out as he stepped into the room.

But as he set eyes on Bigfoot, he gasped and then proceeded to scream. Bigfoot roared back at him in response.

"Not this again," Avery said with a sigh.

Thankfully it didn't last as Eustace ran out the door and out of sight. Courage and Bigfoot merely shrugged and started to go back to dancing.

That was when the rock flew through the window and the angry mob could be heard. The rock itself, collided with Bigfoot's head and the shattering sound woke up Muriel who had dozed off during the food fight.

Avery looked at the rock and the window and anger rose in her throat. She dashed over the window and hollered, "Whoever did that is paying for the window."

But as she looked out, her heart dropped as Courage and Bigfoot joined her. Outside, they could see a large mob approaching the house. Many of them were even carrying torches and pitchforks. Everyone gathered were chanting, "Bigfoot! Bigfoot! Bigfoot!"

Then they saw that Eustace was leading the mob as he came forward with an ankle clamp and cried out, "Bigfoot! Come on out!"

The mob became even more energetic than they were just a moment before.

Avery frowned and said, "Well... this is a pickle."

Muriel however was unfazed by the crowd and merely picked up the rock that had been tossed into the house. She stepped out the back door and demanded to know who had thrown the rock. Eustace in turn, told Muriel to get out of the way so that they could get Bigfoot. Muriel however, remained defiant and even threatened Eustace if he threw another rock.

Courage and Bigfoot huddled together, both jittering and chattering in fear of the rising mob outside.

Avery gulped and looked back down at the photos that she had taken with the Polaroid. The creature that she had originally been somewhat fearful of was simply a creature that was looking for some food. Wasn't his fault that he looked scary. Had she really been planning to expose him to the world?

It was here that a group of people broke through the mob with a giant log. They watched as the men went around to the other side of the house and began banging it against the front door, beginning to splinter the thing in the process.

"You guys are paying for the door too," Avery called out.

It was here that Bigfoot finally snapped. He let out a roar of rage and then smashed right through the kitchen wall and ran outside and roared even more at the mob around them.

Avery looked at the hole in the wall and said, "Why do I even bother?"

Bigfoot roared even more at the crowd as Courage came running out of the kitchen and began trying to address the crowd. He even morphed into an angelic version of Bigfoot to try to win over the crowd. This backfired as Eustace continued to egg the crowd on, only caring about the reward and the lifetime membership. The crowd rallied around him and began to approach Bigfoot, preparing to do whatever to him. But they were stopped when a voice rose above their own.

"What are you doing to my boy?" came a vaguely familiar voice.

It was here that the little old that Eustace had slammed the door on earlier, came running out of the crowd and towards the creature.

"Theodore!" she called out.

The creature saw her, smiled and growled out, "MOMMY!"

The two ran to each other and caught each other in a hug, which caused the crowd to calm down and all go, "Aww!" The crowd all looked ashamed of their actions and watched the sweet display in front of them. Some of them even began to lower their weapons in response. Even Avery, Courage and Muriel had to admit that the display was a cute one with Avery taking a couple more photos.

'So the little boy wasn't even an actual little boy. Bigfoot was simply a lost child trying to keep from going hungry. I feel foolish now,' she said in her head and smiled.

The only one that was not in love with the display was Eustace, who's face turned sour as the prospects of his reward and lifetime membership to the museum of Nowhere were quickly dwindling. He took the ankle brace and quickly fastened it around Bigfoot's ankle. Both Bigfoot and his mother were in shock and the both of them even began to jitter in fear.

Eustace laughed at his victory and said, "The reward is mine!"

Muriel however was not amused and threw her rolling pin at him, getting him in the head. Muriel glared at him and demanded that he let the child go right that instant.

Eustace merely crossed his arms and said, "NO!"

That's when the crowd became angry again as they lifted up their weapons, this time approaching Eustace and yelling, "YES!"

Eustace remained defiant and said, "Make me!"

The crowd showed no restraint as they all approached Eustace who learned very quickly that the crowd was not going to stop for him. He screamed as he turned and ran across the field and into the distance with the mob chasing him close behind.

"Should we be worried about him?" Avery asked.

Muriel shook her head and said, "It's not the first time Eustace has had an angry mob after him. I just hope he'll learn something this time."

Courage went over to Bigfoot and unclamped the brace from around his ankle, freeing him. While Bigfoot may have been free of the clamp, he wasn't free from his mother's wrath.

She wagged her finger at him and said, "Next time you want to play, stay in OUR backyard," as she scolded him.

Avery could swear she heard him say, "Sorry mommy," in the process. The little old lady grabbed him by the ear and began leading him away, scolding him all the while as they walked off.

* * *

Some time later, Avery walked out onto the front porch and joined her aunt and Courage for some of the pie that she still had leftover. She sat down and took a piece of pie that Muriel had saved for her.

"So? What did they say?" Muriel asked.

Avery took a bite of the pie and said, "Well they said that if they look good, they'll offer me a couple of hundred for each photo I took."

Muriel smiled and said, "Well that sounds nice. Too bad it's not a big newspaper."

Avery shrugged and said, "Yeah, but I kinda want his existence here to remain a secret so I decided a satirist would be best. This way I can still get something from those photos and Bigfoot and his mother can keep their identities safe. Problem is that after I calculated the total damages to the house, there's not going to be anything leftover after the repairs."

Muriel frowned and said, "That's a shame. At least it would have been better than what Eustace tried to do."

"Yeah. But this way, he gets a lesson and everyone else goes home happy," she said.

The bracelet pulsated in agreement.

* * *

**So that's the first episode of this series done. The next episode will be Shadow of Courage. An episode I'm looking forward to.**

**Until then, please read and leave a review.**


	5. Shadow of Courage

**So I'm just gonna say real quick, this is one of my favorite episodes of season 1. The bulk of the episode is frightening and has a, not only happy ending but an uplifting on too. You really can't help but feel happy about it. If you haven't seen the episode, I highly recommend you watch it before reading this. It's one of those episodes that needs to be experienced first. Then again, that's how it is with most episodes of this show.**

* * *

The moon. For some people, it's simply a beautiful celestial body dwelling among the stars of the night sky. To others, it's simply a hunk of rock floating out in the middle of space. And for others... it's simply another desire to be had.

Sure money can buy you a lot in life. A huge house, maybe some fancy cars, servants. Just about anything you want. But not everything in life be be obtained so easily and there are those who simply reject that notion.

Not too far from the town of Nowhere sat the mansion of one of the richest men in Kansas. Simple, yet extravagant at the same time. The owner needing nothing but his money and his earthly desires. However, there were times where liked to view the things he desired that were beyond the Earth.

Gazing through his telescope in his private observatory, he looked up at the moon in all of it's glory as it shined in the dark night sky. An item he was desperate to obtain, but had no ability to obtain. Didn't stop him from dreaming though, no matter how impossible it seemed.

With one eye still on the moon he began to address his butler standing behind him.

"Ah! The moon looks good enough to buy Jennings. What a nice addition it would make to my collection," he said boastfully.

Jennings was less amused than his boss was and simply said, "Yes indeed sir. But some things are just not for sale."

The older man, clearly not used to such words took great offense and turned back to his butler.

"Everything is for sale Jennings. EVEN PEOPLE!" the old man said venomously.

Jennings mood suddenly deflated and sadly added, "Y-yes sir. Even people." He proceeded to leave the room.

The old man didn't calm down a bit and continued his venomous tirade by adding, "You should know that after fifty years with me."

Jennings looked back in as he was closing the door, but the old man wasn't finished with him yet.

"Oh and another thing Jennings. YOU'RE FIRED!" the old man said and began to laugh wildly.

He laughed to the point where his breath began to wheeze. Jennings could do nothing but sadly leave the room, dwelling on the fact that he was now without a job. That is until he heard a startled gasp coming from the room that he had just left and the gasp was then followed by a loud thud. The hoarse laughs had now become coughs and even through the door, Jennings could hear the old man struggling to breathe.

Then came the weak calls.

"Jennings!" called the old man desperately.

Jennings pondered for a moment if he should do something to help the old man. But as he thought about, he recalled that the old man that he had loyally served for several decades had just fired him without even a second thought. So without giving it a further thought himself, Jennings simply threw away his dishtowel and walked away from the door happily. Maybe he could help himself to a few of the old man's belongings before he left the manor for good.

Back inside the observatory, the old man shuddered, once again calling out for Jennings to help him. With one last shudder, the old man was still, breathing stop and then... he was no more.

The very second that the old man passed however, his shadow that bled across the observatory floor suddenly stirred and looked about the room excitedly. Like something he had been waiting for for so long had finally arrived.

The shadow smiled, waved his arms in the air and happily declared, "I'M FREE!"

Without missing a beat. He lept up from the spot where the old man's body lie and ventured off into the night.

* * *

Back in the town of Nowhere, it was a late Friday night so there were still a few people out and about, trying to enjoy their night. Some were trying to relax while others were trying to have a little bit of fun. But a certain shadow had little interest in the majority of the people that were out that evening. Right now, his fixation was at the town's ice cream shop. Or to be more precise, a little girl that was standing in the alley right near the ice cream shop.

She stood in the alleyway, happily licking her vanilla ice cream. No cares in the world and with nothing to fear. That is until a certain shadow began creeping up behind her. He didn't move slowly, but he moved quietly enough to where she couldn't even hear him coming. She was too focused on the confectionery in her hand. It wasn't until he stopped right behind her that she sensed that something was off.

She turned her head behind her and to her horror, a shadow in the form of a sharp toothed demon stood behind her and it let out a loud howl at her.

The little girl screamed in horror and ran away from the alley, dropping the ice cream behind her. The shadow laughed in triumph of his successful scare but, then turned his attention to the ice cream that the child had left on the ground and did the exact same thing he had done to the little girl to it. The ice cream shuddered as if it were alive and then it melted into a white puddle. The shadow continued to laugh in triumph... until the lightning flashed.

Not wanting to be caught in the middle of a storm, the shadow melted into the ground and dashed through the emptying streets. Searching for cover.

* * *

Outside of the town in a small farmhouse, Avery sat at her bedroom window and was gazing out at the sky. She had dressed for bed an hour earlier and had tried to fall asleep. But once she had heard the rumble of the approaching thunder, she had found the idea of falling asleep to be practically impossible.

Not that she was afraid of storms, on the contrary, she actually loved them. Ever sine she was a little girl, she had loved watching the storms as they came in from the ocean. And since she had lived in Florida for almost her entire life she had seen plenty of them in her short life. She couldn't sleep during them because she was always fascinated and excited by the flashes of the lightning, that flashed brighter than the fireworks on the Fourth of July and the clap of the thunder that was always louder than the rumble of the ocean.

Then the rain began to fall and the sound of the rainwater pelting against the glass of the window brought a swift gentleness to the ferocity of the storm it had originated from. The bracelet even seemed to quiver in time with the rumbles of thunder as they roared through the skies. Almost like it was sensing her excitement from the storm.

At this point, the bracelet didn't bother her that much anymore. It still felt alive, but it was a bit more relaxed than it had been the week before. Sometimes it felt like the thing tried to comfort her when she felt stressed, no matter what caused it. She still wasn't sure what to make of the thing, but if it kept up behavior like this then she was bound to figure the thing out sooner or later.

What she really wanted to do was crack the window and let a little breeze in. The nightgown she wore would no doubt make it feel a little cooler. Even though she wished that she still had her regular nightclothes with her, she'd grown accustomed to the nightclothes her aunt had given her. At this point she had tried them all on, except for the gaudy pink one that she would have gladly burned. But since it had belonged to her mother, she let it be. But to date, the white one she had worn on her first night was her favorite and so it had become her main one.

She sat back in the computer chair and was just starting to doze off, when she suddenly heard the sound of someone screaming inside the house.

"Wha was tha?" she said tiredly as she bolted upright in the chair and yawned.

It took her a moment to process it, but she began to realize that the scream she had just heard could have only come from one person.

Or dog in this case.

She stood up from the chair with a sigh and said, "Poor Courage. Storm must be scaring him."

She wanted to make sure that he was okay and walked out of the attic to go see if he needed comforting. But as she approached her aunt and uncle's room, they both came storming out of the room. Muriel carrying her rolling pin and Eustace had a baseball bat. They both rushed down the stairs with Courage leading the way.

Confused, Avery followed after them and watched from the top of the stairs as Eustace and Muriel turned on the lights and looked around the living room with their weapons raised high and their hands jittering. Yet there was no one in the room but them.

Courage stepped away from them and began to babble a little. Eustace however was NOT amused with having been woken up in the middle of the night and just glared at the dog.

"That's it. You're sleeping in the attic," he said angrily.

Eustace grabbed Courage and lifted him off of the ground as he proceeded up the stairs with him. Courage babbled more at him, but Eustace ignored his babbling. They walked right past Avery without a word as Muriel followed after them.

"Did I miss something?" Avery asked her.

Muriel shook her head and said, "Courage thought he saw a burglar was all. Guess the storm is just getting to him. You don't mind him staying with you tonight do you?"

Avery shook her head and said, "Of course not. He might feel a little safer with me anyway."

Muriel smiled and proceeded up the stairs as well. Avery followed after, turning off the lights as she passed the light switch. However, none of them were around to hear the crazed laughter of the entity that was now inside their house.

* * *

Back up in the attic, Avery was lying in bed with Courage lying at the foot of the bed with her. She was trying to get to sleep, but Courage was shivering violently. He must have still been convinced that there was something scary in the house. She raised her head and looked at him, starting to worry about him.

'Something is bothering the little guy,' she said in her head. 'Sometimes I wish I could look into his head and see what was going on in there.'

Suddenly Courage let out a frightened howl.

'Then again, some things are probably better off not known,' she added to her thoughts.

But as she lied her head back down to go back to sleep, she heard the sound of wicked laughter and this was followed by the sound of Courage screaming. She bolted up right in bed fast enough to see Courage running from the bed and running straight through the attic room door, leaving his outline in the door.

Avery would have waved it off as him being overly paranoid about the storm, but then she began to wonder. Where did that laughter come from? She got up from the bed and ran out of the room. This was when Eustace and Muriel arrived, once again armed with their weapons and ready to attack whatever they saw coming.

"Avery, are you okay dear?" Muriel asked worriedly.

Avery nodded and said, "Yeah I'm fine. What's going on?"

Eustace scooted her to the side and said, "Stay out of the way. If there's a burglar in there, I'll make him pay for getting in."

Before he went in then, he gave her a sideways glance. A glance that looked like that someone breaking in wasn't the only reason he wanted to pummel an intruder. Of course he still showed some anger towards Courage for breaking the door. Not that she could blame Eustace for that one.

Courage pulled at his ears, howled and then morphed into a monster so frightening that even seeing Courage himself morph into it made Avery jumped back in surprise and horror. At the sight of that, all four of them barged back into the room. Eustace even made sure to keep Avery behind him as they stormed in.

But instead of a monster, the four were met with a mostly empty room. Nothing in there but Avery's bed and the computer. Courage was distraught once more that evening.

"Now Courage, we're not going to be doing this all night are we?" Muriel scolded him and then walked out of the room.

Eustace however was less pleased and walked up to the dog with fury plastered on his face.

"What did I tell you? If you wake me up one more time, you'll be sleeping with the termites," Eustace threatened him with Courage looking even more fearful.

"Uncle Eustace, can you please calm down? He's freaked out enough as it is," Avery stated.

Eustace looked back at her and said, "The dog has to learn about consequences. You should know that."

He looked back at Courage and said, "So I'm giving one more chance to act like a real dog."

Courage lept at Eustace's foot and let out a whine that Avery couldn't help but find depressing. Eustace however was not amused and simply threw Courage off of his foot. As Courage landed on the floor in front of him, Eustace pulled out some large googly eyes and placed them on his head. Courage screamed and Avery could feel her anger beginning to rise. The bracelet on her wrist began to glow.

But before she or the bracelet could do anything, Muriel came rushing into the room and whacked Eustace on the head with her rolling pin. Whacked him HARD. The googly eyes falling off of his head and rolling across the ground.

Muriel picked up Courage and angrily stated, "Now YOU sleep in the attic. Avery, you can sleep in a cot in my room tonight."

Eustace was flabbergasted and wanted to argue, but Muriel walked out with Courage before he could say anything. Avery shot her uncle an angry glance and followed after, leaving Eustace alone to huff.

It took no time at all to set up a cot in Muriel's room and before Muriel and Courage were even asleep, Avery was curling up in the cot and was trying hard to go to sleep. She didn't even mind a couple of whine's from Courage. Looking up at him, she could tell that was having a hard time going to sleep. And since the storm was now past, she knew that couldn't be the thing bothering him now.

As she tried to lie her head back down, she heard something laughing madly and with a sudden chill, she felt something glide over her body. As darkness briefly glided over her eyes, she looked up at the wall and saw something dark sliding over the wall and then disappear behind the bed. Courage watched it as well and shivered and whined as he stood up on the bed and watched the thing disappear behind it.

'Is that what's spooking him?' she asked herself.

That was when Eustace burst into the room and began to strangle Courage. Muriel woke with a start and then whacked Eustace as she saw him strangling Courage. Eustace was undeterred and began to chase Courage as the dog made a run for it. Muriel chasing after in tow with her rolling pin.

"Not this again," Avery groaned.

Avery watched them run out and then looked back to the back of the bed. Then looked back at the door and then to the back of the bed. She wasn't sure what to make of the creature she had just seen, but hated leaving Courage to Eustace's wrath and leaving Eustace to Muriel's wrath. She was split between the two, but since she still wasn't sure about what she had seen she decided to stick with the thing she knew was real right now.

She jumped up from her cot and then dashed after the trio, not noticing the entity gliding up to the ceiling behind her and shooting past her. She did however look up just in time to see it glide along the wall and down the stairs. She came to a stop as she came to the top of the stairs and suddenly debated if she should go down there. She knew that she had just seen something moving about in the darkness and the thought of running towards it was a chilling one to her.

A few seconds later, she heard a loud CRACK come from the kitchen and she saw Muriel walking out and she was carrying Courage with her.

"What? What just happened?" Avery asked as Muriel came up the stairs.

Muriel walked past her and with a yawn she said, "Let's just go back to sleep and deal with it in the morning."

Avery looked back down the stairs and to the kitchen door. True she was tired, but at the same time knew that something was in the house with them. She certainly shouldn't leave her uncle alone with it. Must have been too late however, as a few seconds later his screams filled the house.

"AHHHHH!" came the scream.

Now she COULDN'T ignore it. She had to go see if he was okay, but her fear was beginning to freeze her to the spot. Thankfully, Courage came rushing back down the hall towards her. She didn't know why, but she always felt safer with him around and together they went back down the stairs and into the kitchen. But upon entering, they saw no sign of Eustace anywhere and instead they only found his hat lying in the middle of the floor. Courage gasped as he picked it up and Avery could tell that some frightening scenarios were running through his mind right now.

She always wondered what was thinking of, but in the back of her mind she always told herself that she would sleep better not knowing what he saw in his own head. Especially as he began to scream out of nowhere and run off. Avery tried grabbing for him, so that she could calm him down, but he was much too fast for her.

Courage ran for the bedroom ,but to his shock and horror, Muriel was missing. Avery appeared in the doorway a second later and saw the empty bed.

"Aunt Muriel?" she called out. "Where'd you go?"

Courage howled at the sight and clutched the sides of his head. He babbled to himself before he howled again and ran off again. This time, leading them both back up to the attic. The first thing that Courage did was climb onto his computer chair and began typing away at the keyboard. He babbled as he typed and Avery couldn't understand a word, but she could see what he was typing.

"Evil shadow! Evil things! Search!"

The computer beeped and said, "You twit! Do you mean evil shadows?"

Courage scratched the top of his head as the computer continued.

"What a loser. Of course you do," the computer insulted.

Courage growled at the computer.

"Can you, for once, just do a search that doesn't involve you speaking down to Courage?" Avery said angrily.

The computer chuckled and said, "That coming from the 90's girl dressed like she's going to bed in the 60's."

Fire appeared in Avery's eyes and said, "DO YOU WANT ME TO THROW YOU OUT THE WINDOW?! REMEMBER THAT I HAVE MAGIC ON MY SIDE!"

She even held up her hand with the bracelet, the bracelet glowing in order to emphasize Avery's point.

The computer sighed and said, "Fine, no need to get all testy."

The computer quit talking and the word, 'SEARCHING' filled the screen. Courage sat in the middle of the room and attempted to meditate while they waited for the results. Avery even sat on the floor next to him, simply to watch him.

'Maybe I should try that some time. Looks relaxing,' she said to herself.

After a minute or two, a bell sound came from the computer with the computer saying, "Search found."

It displayed that only one item had been found through it's whole search. Courage opened it eagerly, but all that it said was that he wouldn't want them in HIS house. Courage howled at the lack of a better result.

Avery covered his mouth and said, "Okay Courage! I think that's enough howling for one night boy."

Courage calmed slightly and typed in, "How do I get rid of evil shadows?"

The computer provided an answer, suggesting pleasant conversation or to move out of the house. Courage growled at the computer and babbled a little more at it. And Avery knew that the latter was not a good viable option for them as this was the only place that they could call home.

Avery assumed that the computer must have understood him as it then said, "I don't know. You're on your own kid." The computer even added a smiley face emoticon for good measure.

Courage pounded the desk in frustration and walked out of the room.

Avery glared at the computer and said, "You can try to at least try to be a little nicer to him you know."

"Young lady, my body consists of circuits, wires and switches. I have no room in my hard drive for empathy. You can scold me all you want, but I simply just don't care," he said smugly.

It took a lot of will on Avery's part to prevent herself from tossing the computer out the window and being done with him. But she knew that he was a useful one, so she just had to bite her tongue and deal with it.

"I WILL get you back some day for all of this," she said as she turned towards the door and left the room.

The computer beeped and said, "I'm sure you will."

* * *

The next few minutes were spent searching the house for a flashlight to search for the shadow. They searched all of the cabinets, drawers and closets they could find. Each one they opened cautiously as they searched, knowing that the shadow could pop up out of anywhere. This thought however led to Avery feeling a little... uneasy. What if that shadow popped up somewhere it wasn't supposed to. Like in the bathroom, her room when she changing. Or even through the floor right now while dressed in her nightclothes. She shuddered at the thought and knew that now they REALLY needed to get that thing out of the house. Lest she feel unclean just by being in here right now.

After searching all over the house, the duo found no sign of a flashlight. Courage began to feel a little distraught when Avery gave a glance to her bracelet. Could this thing's magic help them in this situation? There was only one way for her to find out.

"Okay you, can you please give us some light?" she asked the thing, but nothing happened.

"Please?" she repeated, but nothing came of it.

She balled her hand into a fist out of frustration and the next thing she knew, a little flash came from the bracelet. She looked back at it and then clenched her fist again. Sure enough there was, once again, a dim flash.

Courage was about to panic when Avery said, "Wait! Let me try one more time."

This time she concentrated on a beam of light coming from the bracelet and when she clenched her fist again, a bright beam of light actually did manifest from her bracelet. It was almost like having a flashlight on her wrist. One that didn't require batteries.

"Okay, this is wicked. Like wish fulfillment," she said. "Now we can look around more easily. So where should we begin?"

Courage pulled her over to the basement door and sat in front of it. She figured that he knew that the basement would probably be as good as any place that they start. At the very least, they could work their way up if they found nothing down there.

They opened the door and Avery began casting the light around the stairwell. Courage babbled something down into the darkness as she shined the light around. And as she shined onto the wall by the stairs... they were both greeted by the sight of a giant shadowy dragons head that let out a huge roar at them. They both screamed and then slammed the basement door.

Avery leaned against the door with her heart pounding her chest with Courage lying on the floor with his heart pounding too. Now, even Avery was freaked out. She wanted nothing more than to grab Courage, hop in the truck and drive away from that house and never look back. But yet, she still had roots here and couldn't leave her aunt and uncle to suffer from whatever.

So they opened up the basement door again and then quickly slammed it shut. But then they threw it open again and knew that they had to do it. They had to go down the stairs. Courage took the first step and then another. And then... he slipped and suddenly tumbled down the stairs.

"Courage!" Avery hollered and then ran down the stairs.

She shined her light on him as he sat up and groaned from the pain. She knelt down to see if he had an injuries on him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Courage simply got back up to his feet, grabbed Avery's wrist and began casting her light all over the room, possibly calling out to the shadow. But as they cast the light on one wall, they were greeted to the shadow of a roaring creature. Both of them screamed and Avery unclenched her fist, enveloping them in darkness again. She clenched her fist again and they saw the shadow of Muriel waving to them as the light hit the wall.

They both smiled and Avery called out, "Aunt Muriel? Are you okay?"

Then out of nowhere, Muriel popped her head, complete with blood dripping from the head and stump. They both screamed again and Avery's light went out again.

The light came on again and they saw what looked like Muriel being burned at the stake. The light went out again. When it came on, they saw a spinning saw blade headed for her. Over and over again the light went out and each time it came back, there was a new shadow.

Muriel being drawn and quartered, a bed of spikes coming down towards her, a wavy figure, an anvil and hammer, a screw and ball, a cuckoo clock and then finally, the shadow had had enough.

"STOP ALREADY," he screamed as he began to cry into his hands.

This surprised both Courage and Avery.

"I can't take it anymore," he cried. "On and off, on and off. You're both driving me crazy!"

Courage babbled angrily at the shadow and Avery decided to add in her two cents.

"Where's my aunt? What did you do with her?" she demanded.

"I haven't done anything to her," the shadow answered.

Courage babbled something else to the shadow which was followed with the shadow saying, "What do I look like? Her twin?"

It was here that they both heard a flushing sound coming from upstairs and the rattling of the pipes as water ran down them. And now both Avery and Courage were beginning to feel foolish.

"See? She's been in the bathroom," the shadow stated.

Avery looked back at him and asked, "And you weren't peeping in on her?"

The shadow groaned in disgust and said, "Lady, I may be a jerk, but I'm not a creep. I'm still gonna respect everyone's privacy, including the broads."

Now Avery really did feel foolish. She had just jumped to a conclusion without taking the time to truly think that the evil shadow that was trying to scare everyone might actually have some standards. She knew she'd have to fix that mindset on herself.

Courage babbled something to the shadow and the shadow began to pour his heart out. He seemed to understand Courage just fine and since she had just offended him, she thought that it would be better to let Courage do the talking while she wrote down notes.

"Well I was the shadow of a cruel old rich dude," the shadow began as he lay on the shadow of a therapy couch.

Courage nodded as Avery wrote it down on a notepad that Courage had given her.

"But that's not me. That's not me at all," the shadow continued. "I always wanted to be in showbiz, to be a star baby. A star."

Courage babbled something else to the shadow and proceeded up the stairs. Courage must have gotten through to him as the shadow followed Courage up. With nothing else to do, Avery followed the two of them up to see what Courage had planned.

* * *

A few minutes later, the trio were standing outside and looking up at the night sky. The storm was long past and now the sky was clear of clouds. The stars seemed to stretch across the sky forevermore in every direction around them. Avery couldn't help but admire the spectacle of the night sky and the beauty of the stars blinking as the scene seemed to stretch on and on to the horizon.

Courage was busy talking with the Shadow, who was looking more and more intrigued as Courage talked. Oh how she wished she knew what he was saying. At least the shadow seemed happy with whatever Courage was telling him.

"You mean, become the shadow of a REAL star?" the shadow asked.

Courage nodded and babbled a little to him.

"Huh, never thought of that before. Sounds too romantic to me, but what the heck. It sure beats scaring the jeepers out of folks," the shadow stated with a shudder.

Avery looked at the shadow and said, "By the way, have you seen my uncle anywhere? Big chin, glasses, thin and with an ugly hat?"

The Shadow chuckled, pointed the truck and said, "Yeah, he's hiding in that old pick-up truck. He's a bigger coward than the dog here."

Even Courage chuckled at the slight insult as he used his own shadow to shake hands with the old man's shadow.

The shadow glided and the ground and said, "Thanks. See you two in the funny papers. And lady, please try not to be quick to judge."

And with that he drifted up into the sky and in a flash of light, his form scattered across the sky. And in the very spot where they had seen him last, shined a brand new star. Burning brighter than any other in the sky.

Courage smiled and turned to go back into the house. He turned back to Avery and gave a her a look that said, 'You coming?'

Avery smiled and said, "In a little bit. I'm just gonna watch the stars for a bit and then try to get Uncle Eustace to come inside. You go ahead."

Courage smiled and walked away. Avery smiled as he walked off and just looked up at the sky, in particular the galaxy's new star. She felt a pang of sadness in her chest, but deep down she knew that the shadow was now truly happy. But most importantly?

He's at peace.

But she was sure that her uncle wouldn't be once she tried to get him out of the truck.

* * *

**So I know the ending is a little abrupt, but that was honestly how I thought best to end it. Everything wrapped up nicely and everyone was safe.**

**The next chapter will be the episode where we meet Le Quack. Gonna need to think extra hard on that episode so I wouldn't expect it to be out too soon. But I will give it my best.**

**Once again, I thank you all for taking the time to read this story. **


	6. Dr Le Quack, Amnesia Specialist

**Nothing to really put up here today, so lets just dive right in.**

* * *

Avery groaned as she tried to bury her head back into her pillow, but the pillow was no match for the banging sound coming from the roof above. It had been going on for the past several minutes now, ever since the sun had begun to rise. She had complained to her uncle the night before that some of the boards on the roof could use replacing. But she hadn't expected him to be up there THIS early in the morning.

Now, she knew that her uncle Eustace was an early riser but at the same time he knew that she was NOT a morning person. All she wanted to do was just sleep in a little bit longer, but the constant banging of his hammer on the boards of the roof was just about to drive her insane. Thankfully she knew that she was not alone in that department.

Already she could hear that her aunt was outside, yelling at Eustace about the noise. This was followed by a loud crunch and the sound of Eustace screaming in pain. Avery snickered slightly at her uncle's clumsiness as she began to get up from bed.

She walked to her wardrobe and began changing into whatever outfit she wanted to wear for the day. But while she was in the middle of it, she heard one last bang from Eustace's hammer. This was followed by the sounds of rending wood, a loud thunk, Muriel groaning and Courage howling.

She looked at the window and said, "That can't be good."

She ran over to her window and what she saw was a bit... shocking to say the least. Her aunt was laying sprawled on the ground with a bump forming on her forehead. She couldn't hear her too well, but Avery could tell that her aunt was groaning from the pain. She even looked up to see her uncle giving off a look of complete and utter guilt.

She raced down the stairs and right out the front door. Not wasting a beat, she helped her aunt up onto her feet and began to walk her inside. Just as she was opening the door, Eustace was there and even held the door open for them. Even though he was doing something nice for them now, Avery still felt the need to shoot him a glare. She wasn't sure, but she believed that she could see her uncle twitch a little under her gaze.

She and Courage led Muriel over to her rocking chair and stood her in front of it.

"Aunt Muriel, are you okay?" Avery asked.

Muriel took a curious look around the living room, smiled and said, "Oh this is a lovely room."

Eustace looked at her in surprise and said, "Eh?"

Muriel sat down on her rocker and said, "And what a comfy chair."

Eustace was even more confused now and Avery asked, "Aunt Muriel? Are. You. Oh. Kay?"

Muriel looked at her said, "I'm feeling just fine young lady. Is this YOUR house? It seems nice."

Eustace picked up a cup of tea that Muriel had set out and offered it to her. But Muriel was more interested in an old wedding photo of her and Eustace.

"What a nice couple," Muriel said. "Who are they?"

Avery groaned inside of her mind.

'Great, now we have to deal with a case of amnesia. Can we please just get another spook running around here instead?' she said in her mind.

Courage even began pacing back and forth, clutching his head and babbling to himself.

'Don't you go to pieces on me either Courage,' Avery thought.

Eustace took the photo back from her and offered her the tea again, which she graciously took this time. Muriel thanked him and asked him what his name was.

"What's my name?" asked Eustace in confusion. "Hey now, what's YOUR name?"

Muriel shrugged and Avery asked, "Aunt Muriel, please tell me you know my name."

Muriel shook her head and said, "I'm sorry young lady, but I haven't the foggiest idea."

Eustace pointed to Courage and said, "Well, what's HIS name?"

Muriel looked down at Courage and Courage merely smiled and waved at her cheerfully. He was desperate for Muriel to remember him, knowing that things would probably turn bleak if she didn't.

But to his and Avery's dismay, she shrugged and said, "I've never seen him before in my life."

Eustace smiled evily and went to grab Courage. But Avery stepped in his way and tried to stop him.

"Uncle Eustace, should you really take advantage of Aunt Muriel's condition? Come on, even YOU are better than this," she pleaded with him not knowing if she was correct.

Though her pleas fell on deaf ears and Eustace said, "The dog should be spending time outside anyway. Do I need to put YOU out too."

Avery just stood there, flabbergasted that he would say something like that to her. This was enough distraction from her for Eusatce to walk behind her and grab Courage by the nape of his neck. He immediatly walked to the back door and threw the dog outside. He chuckled to himself and sat back down in his arm chair. Avery's mouth still hanging open from what her uncle had just said to her. But she knew that there was no use fighting with him right now and trudged up the stairs in defeat.

As she walked up, she could still hear Eustace degrading her aunt verbally with various demands that he was making up off the top of his head. Avery however was fuming. It was bad enough that he had caused her aunt some injury, but now he was demeaning her and treating her like garbage for his own selfish needs. All the while, he had thrown out the dog that both she and her aunt were pretty fond of.

She walked back into her room, buried her face into her pillow and just screamed in aggravation. She knew her uncle could be a pain in the neck, but he had never sunk to this kind of low in any of her memories.

She had just sat back on her bed, when the window suddenly shattered inwards. She looked over to the window to see Courage land on the bucket of his computer chair and began typing away with great vigor. She couldn't see what he was typing, but she could see the fury of his typing so it must have been about her aunt.

The computer beeped and said, "Well, you don't have to hit so hard. Let me look for an amnesia therapist."

The computer went to his 'Searching' screen. It took a few moments, but he did get a hit.

"I've found one that seems to "fit the bill" dare I say. He calls himself Le Quack and appears to have some sort of success. Shall I e-mail him?" the computer asked.

"No, we just asked you to search simply for the fun of it. What do you think?" Avery said in irritable sarcasm.

"There's no need for sarcasm with me young lady. I'll send him an e-mail, but I'm going to tell him to take his time," the computer scolded her.

Avery rolled her eyes and sat back down on her bed.

She looked back at Courage and said, "Better stay up here or stay outside until it's all settled boy. We don't need Uncle Eustace knowing that you are back in the house. It would only make things worse for the both of us."

Courage could only nod in agreement.

* * *

About an hour later, a duck, that was nearly as tall as Avery, arrived at the house. His feathers were all white, blue curled hair on top of his head and a mustache coming out of both sides of his bill. He had a slightly friendly look to his face, almost like he was very happy about something. Courage had gone back outside and Avery stuck her out of the still broken window to see the duck knock on the door. She was already beginning to sigh in relief to know that her aunt might actually get some help.

Eustace opened the door and rudely blurted, "We don't want any!"

Le Quack pulled out his card and gave it to Eustace.

"Afternoon my good man, I am Doctor Le Quack. Are you the patient?" Le Quack asked him in a thick French accent.

"Who?" Eustace asked in confusion.

"Where the patient?" Le Quack asked.

Eustace became even more confused and decided that he was done with this. He threw the card away and turned back into the house and tried to slam the door. But Le Quack caught the door in time and pushed it open again.

"I am an amnesia specialist and have been sent for," Le Quack explained.

Eusatce stuck his head back out of the door and said, "I didn't send for you!"

"No?" Le Quack asked.

With this, he pulled out his mallet and knocked Eustace VERY HARD on the head. Hard enough to knock the old farmer out on his back.

Avery gasped out an "eep" as she covered her mouth and pulled her head back into the window to keep her from being seen or heard. Courage even howled in despair at the realization that he had just invited a criminal over to the house.

Le Quack laughed and walked past Eustace's unconcious form, grabbed him by the feet and began dragging the old man back into the house. He stuffed Eustace into the closet under the stairs and left him there; out of sight.

Back in her room, Avery began to panic a little. It was bad enough seeing her uncle being attacked so roughly, but now she realized that now this guy was in their house. Worse yet is that she was trapped up here while he was down there... with her aunt. She knew she couldn't just sit up there while did whatever to her, but she wasn't sure how to handle it. The duck had attacked Eustace unprovoked and would no doubt do the same to anyone he came across. There's no way she could take him on herself.

Unless...

She looked at her bracelet and said, "Hey you! Can you do something to help?"

Nothing happened.

"Can you make me super strong and take this guy on myself?"

Nothing happened.

"Or make me invisible so I can slip by him and call the police?"

Nothing happened.

"Please?"

Still nothing.

Avery groaned in aggravation and said, "Well you're a big help."

The bracelet remained silent and still like usual.

She suddenly heard her aunt screaming from downstairs and Avery's blood suddenly ran cold. Now, no longer caring if she got hurt or not, ran out the attic door and stopped at the top of the stairs leading down to the den. Now she could no longer hear her aunt screaming. Instead it now sounded like she was... laughing?

"What is going on down there?" she whispered to herself.

She silently crept down the stairs as she had probably made enough noise already. How the guy didn't hear her, she had no idea. Taking a risk, she peeked her head out from the wall on the stairs to see that her aunt was bound in rope and that the criminal was... tickling her foot?

"Well that's... less violent," Avery whispered.

The duck was smiling and asked, "Now do you remember?"

Avery raised an eyebrow, smiled a little in relief and thought to herself, 'Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he really is trying to help her. I guess Uncle Eustace just got on his nerves a little, not surprising there. Still, he could have been a lot less violent about it.'

Then the therapist asked, "Where are the family jewels?"

She smile dropped and she thought, 'Then again, I've been wrong before.'

It was then that a strong wind began to blow into the room. Le Quack was knocked off of his feet and blown into the wall on the far side of the room. Avery looked over to the door and saw that Courage was there with a large fan, that was still blowing a strong wind.

'Good dog,' Avery said in her head.

But as relief was just starting to wash over her, the fan suddenly died and the wind stopped.

"Dammit,' Avery screamed in her head.

Courage tried to start up the fan again, but it just wouldn't start up again. So he tried to take the time to grab Muriel, but Le Quack was already on his feet. Wasting no time, he pulled out his mallet and began chasing Courage all around the room. The chase went out into the kitchen and Avery saw an oppertunity. While Le Quack was gone, she dashed down the stairs and over to her aunt.

Muriel looked at her with a smile and said, "Why hello again young lady. What can I do for ya?"

Avery didn't answer and instead began looking over the bundle of ropes that her aunt was encased in to start untying her. But before she could do anything, she heard the back door slam shut and this was followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.

Avery began to sweat, looked at her aunt and said, "I can't get you out now, but I'll be back later."

She went back up the stairs, knowing that she needed to hide.

Muriel smiled and said, "Bye bye, see you later."

Le Quack reentered the room and asked, "Who are you talking to?"

"The nice young lady," Muriel answered.

Le Quack looked around the room, scratched the underside of his bill and said, "Clearly there's more going on here than I thought."

* * *

Avery was back up in her room, rubbing her temples in frustration. She now knew that what she SHOULD have done was gone straight out the open front door and left to get the police. But her fears and worries had gotten the better of her and she wanted to make sure that her aunt was okay first. She now figured that the best way that she can help her aunt would be to get out of there and get help.

"Live and learn Avery. Live and learn," she told herself.

It was here that Courage climbed back in through the still broken window. The little dog wasted no time getting onto his computer chair and began typing away. Avery walked over and saw that he was sending a message to the local police department.

She patted the top of his head and said, "I didn't know you could message the police from this thing. I need to learn more about computers."

They were pulled out of their message when they heard the sound of Muriel screaming once again. After Courage sent the message, they both ran from there and back towards the stairs. Avery couldn't see too well from them, but could swear that what she could see was very... bizarre to say the least.

Muriel was tied up in a chair with a toy train running under it on a track. Le Quack began placing large pies on top of the train and sending them towards her. Muriel shrieked as the pie came closer. Le Quack even got a little sadistic as he increased the speed of the train and allowed the pie to splat into her.

Avery was about to charge in there, but Courage shook his head at her and went down by himself. Knowing what he was getting at, Avery kneeled on the stairs to remain hidden but still keep as close an eye on the scene as possible.

"Now do you remember? Where is your piggy bank?" he asked.

Muriel shrugged and Le Quack frowned.

"Pity," he said as he prepared another pie.

Avery watched Courage creep from the chair and to the TV. He crawled away from the TV, dragging two wires with him. He attached them to the train bridge, which Le Quack certainly took notice of. He tried rushing Courage, but Courage was quicker and activated something as he pushed a button. He did this, just as both Le Quack and the train reached the exact same spot. The resulting explosion left Le Quack singed and very angry.

"How annoying," the criminal duck growled.

Courage began tugging at the ropes binding Muriel, but Le Quack began coming at Courage again. Brandishing his mallet, the duck chased the dog into the kitchen once more. Seeing another oppurtunity, Avery decided that now would be a good time to grab her aunt and get her out to the truck. Best thing to do at this point would be to drive themselves to the police station if needed.

She rushed back to her aunt and tried to pick her up off the chair. But then she remembered how heavy her aunt really was and tumbled to the floor as she had tried to carry her out.

"Courage makes this look so much easier," Avery muttered into the floor.

"Oh hello again," Muriel said with a smile.

Approaching footsteps told Avery that it was time to hide again. So slipping a little on her own two feet, she dashed back for the stairs again. She was out of sight again, just as Le Quack reentered the room once again.

"I heard you talking to somebody? Who was it?" he asked.

"Just the nice young lady again," Muriel answered.

Le Quack looked around and saw some scuff marks on the floor by Muriel's chair.

"Is someone else in the house? Better to keep my eyes open," he asked himself.

* * *

Avery went back to her room and buried her eyes in her hands and began banging her head against the wall. That was the second time that she had botched up rescuing her aunt. So now she knew that she would either have to go for help or take on Le Quack herself. She didn't know what she should do and was now starting to beat herself up about it. And the bracelet certainly was not being helpful either.

Why did this thing ignore her?

Suddenly, there was a loud crash in the room and Avery looked up to see a cutout on the wall shaped like Courage. And sitting back on the computer chair was Courage himself, typing away again.

'He sure is a sturdy dog isn't he?' Avery thought.

"You have an e-mail from the police, I'll read it to you," the computer said as Courage typed. "A madman in your house? How horrible. Where are you?"

Courage typed in the answer and they both waited for a response.

"You poor thing. What do you want from us?" the computer added.

Courage stared back in annoyance and even growled, but Avery was less subtle.

"I know that last line was from you. Stop fooling around, this is a serious matter," Avery said to the computer angrily.

The computer chuckled and said, "There's always time for a joke young lady. I'll tell them that you need help."

Avery could practically feel the steam coming out of her ears. Their anger was replaced with concern almost right away, as they heard Muriel scream again. They wasted no time going back downstairs. This time Avery followed Courage down, not wanting to remain hidden this time.

Muriel was still tied up as Le Quack held up a platter with a lid on it. A clothes pin clamped tightly on his bill. He chuckled as he removed the lid off of the platter, revealing a wedge of smelly cheese underneath it. Avery gagged as she could smell it from where she was standing and Courage looked like he was about to throw up. Le Quack began holding the cheese closer to Muriel's face.

Now Courage was absolutely done as he stood in the dining room doorway and growled angrily at Le Quack. Le Quack, clearly also done, made a sour expression at him and began charging towards the door. Courage made sure to slam the door right in Le Quack's face and they could hear the clattering sound of him crashing on the other side. Before they could do anything else, Courage let out a loud whistle towards the dining room window. Avery heard a clattering sound from outside and saw one of the windows open up. She watched as a large mouse stepped into the room through it.

"Hello! What's the problem now?" he asked.

Courage pointed at the door and babbled urgently.

The mouse looked back at the door and said, "A cheese problem? I can fix that."

He stepped over to the door, opened it and was met by Le Quack still standing there holding his tray of cheese. The mouse put on a bib, glared at Le Quack and punched him, square in the face. As Le Quack flew across the room again, the mouse grabbed the cheese and ate it up in one bite with a loud belch.

"Well, I guess that's one way to take care of a problem," Avery said.

Courage stepped out, pulled a five out of a wallet he had and babbled to the mouse.

The mouse took the five and said, "No prob." Before turning around and leaving through the window again.

"Friend of yours?" Avery asked him and Courage nodded.

Muriel screamed once more and they both looked to see Le Quack carrying her and then depositing her on the couch. He turned his attention towards Courage, still standing in the doorway. Avery was still around the corner, thinking that Courage would probably pull back as well.

Le Quack grimaced, turned back to Muriel and said, "My darling, I must leave you for a moment. But only for a moment."

He then took his mallet and gave her a conk on the head as well, though a bit lighter than the one that he had given to Eustace earlier. He even gave her a kiss on the head before turning his focus back to Courage.

Courage screamed in terror and dashed for the backdoor, only to find that this time it had been nailed shut. Boards were nailed into the wall on both sides of the door. Le Quack had no problem chasing Courage into the kitchen, even walking right past Avery without him seeing her. He even set his mallet to the side and had grabbed a large vacuum to use on the dog.

He cornered Courage in the kitchen and turned on the vacuum, a vacuum so powerful that Courage had to grip the handle of the door to keep himself from being pulled into the cleaning appliance. It was even strong enough to pull in the things that Courage kept hidden in his fur. An accordion, soccer ball and even an anchor; a freaking anchor. Even the boards holding the door shut were no match for the vacuum's power as the nails came loose and were sucked inside along with the boards. Avery couldn't help but wince as some of Courage's fur were also pulled into the vacuum. His howl of pain didn't help matters either.

Now it was Avery that was officially done with this creep. It was bad enough that he had hurt her uncle and aunt and left her in a state of terror, but now he was hurting the one thing that made life in the middle of Nowhere bearable. She looked at the mallet that Le Quack had left behind and with rage filling her veins, she grabbed Le Quack's mallet and crept up right behind the french duck. Le Quack was laughing so hard to himself, that he couldn't even hear her creeping up on him.

Avery raised the mallet high above her head and said, "Hey bird brain!"

Le Quack heard her voice and turned to look at her and said, "Qu'est-ce que çest?"

He saw Avery with the mallet high above and with a firey hatred in her eyes.

He frowned and with fear in his eyes, he said, "Uh-oh!"

And with that, Avery brought the mallet down as hard as she could on Le Quack's head. Hard enough to bring him down. She even brought the mallet down on the vacuum, destroying it in the process. Courage landed on the floor and began sighing in relief.

A few seconds later, Avery heard the sounds of sirens approaching the house and approaching fast. A moment later, several uniformed police officers came running in through the backdoor, practically stepping all over Courage in the process. But he looked no worse for the wear and Avery just sat back against the door frame and breathed a sigh of relief.

They marched over to Le Quack and cuffed him as they stood over him. The chief even stating that they had been looking for him for quite a while now. Courage crawled over to Avery and she patted the little dog on the top of his head and they smiled at one another.

"It's okay boy. We're safe now," she said to him.

"Good job you two," the chief said to the both of them. "We'll be in contact about the reward money."

"Reward money?" Avery said and her eyes began to light up. "I like the sound of that."

The police loaded Le Quack into the back of their paddy wagon and drove off right away. With the threat now over, Courage went back over to Muriel on the couch and untied her. He babbled to her as she began to sit up on the couch. Muriel looked around the room and a smile formed on her face.

She looked down at Courage and said, "A cup of tea would be lovely."

Courage hugged her thankfully and Avery couldn't help but smile as well as she too wrapped an arm around her aunt's shoulders.

"Oh, have either of you see Eustace?" Muriel asked.

That's when Avery looked over at the closet door and said, "Oh yeah, I think he's still in the closet. We should check on him."

She opened the closet door and saw that her uncle was now awake inside. He looked up at her and groaned.

"Where am I? Who are you? Who am I?" he asked her and then pointed to himself.

Avery was now dumbfounded, but decided that in this case it would be best to let his memories return naturally with some rest and a change of scenery. Maybe a few days away would help him.

She closed the door and said, "Hey aunt Muriel, do you guys still rent that lake house a few counties over?"

Muriel nodded and said, "Of course we do. Why do you ask?"

Avery looked back at the closet and said, "I think Uncle Eustace could use a few days away."

* * *

A few miles away, there sat a wrecked paddy wagon just off the side of the road with one of the passengers walking away calmly from the wreck. He wore no badge, but wore the clothing of one of the officers. Officers that were nowhere in sight.

* * *

**Alright so that'll do it for this chapter. Yeah I kinda wanted Avery to be the hero for once instead of just assisting Courage and I wanted her to do it without help from the bracelet, hence why it had little involvement in this chapter. **

**The next chapter will be an original one and it'll focus a bit on Avery and Eustace.**

**I should mention that one episode I will NOT be doing is Cajun Granny Stew. I do apologize as that is an episode I love, but I really cannot think of a way to do that episode in the style I'm going for here. So I'll have the next chapter take place while that one is going on.**


	7. A Frustrating Day Out

**So I want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. First there were fourth of July stuff going on that took up a lot of time. After that, part of the chapter got done and then BOOM, water leak in the basement. So fixing that and tearing up our basement to get the water damage out has taken up even more time. Spent a bit of my free time working on this as best I could, but got stuck in some areas. So some areas of this chapter may seem rushed. Sorry **

**Sorry if this chapter isn't very good, but I did try the best I could with as many frustrations that this past month has been giving me.**

**So onto the story.**

* * *

"No! Absolutely not," Avery argued to her aunt.

Muriel frowned and said, "Now Avery it's just for one day. You know that now that he's feeling better, it'd be good to take him out and get him some fresh air. Plus I don't think it's healthy for him to be stuck inside ALL the time."

It had been a few days since the family had arrived at their lake house getaway and things had been pretty... mixed to say the least. Eustace was feeling much better and had regained many of his memories. But now he was complaining about how there was not much to do around the place, how there NEVER was anything for him to do. Sure they had TV, but only got a handful of channels and each time they turned to a new channel, Eustace would complain about whatever it was that they were watching and flip to something else and then complain again. The fact that their options were severely limited did NOT help at all.

Avery tried to shake her head, but Muriel just began to give her a stern look.

"Besides, the two haven't gotten to spend ANY time together since you were just a wee little girl. The two of you should really take some time to catch up," Muriel said before Avery could get a single word in.

Avery crossed her arms and said, "You're not going to give me a choice in this are you?"

Muriel didn't answer and merely beckoned Courage over to her.

"Please just give him some patience. Now me and Courage are going to go out to the park for the day. If you need us, you can come find us there," Muriel said and then walked out of the house with Courage in tow.

Avery huffed and sulked to the back room of the house where Eustace was sitting. Somehow, they had managed to take Eustace's arm chair with them to the lake house and he was currently sitting in it and reading the newspaper. He didn't even look up from it as Avery walked into the room.

She took a breath and said, "Hey Uncle Eustace."

Eustace merely turned a page of the paper and said, "Yeah? What do you want?"

'Well there's no standing on ceremony with him is there?' Avery said in her head.

She was going to scold him for his attitude, but knowing his temperament decided that that would probably be the worst thing right now. After all, he JUST got his memory back and was still sore with himself for having been so easily duped by some duck with a French accent.

Avery stood next to his chair and said, "So Aunt Muriel said that we should probably spend the day together. Just you and me."

Eustace turned another page of his paper and said, "And?"

Avery pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew that it wouldn't be that easy with him.

"And I thought we could you know... go for a walk or something?" she suggested.

Eustace merely blinked and said, "Sounds boring."

Avery had to admit that it kinda did, but she wasn't ready to back out just yet.

"Maybe, but you never know what we could come across along the way. We might find something that we can both laugh at," she suggested.

This time, Eustace gave her a slight glance.

"Like what?" he asked.

Avery shrugged and said, "Maybe someone getting hurt while doing something stupid. Or maybe take in a movie at the local movie theater. I heard that they play classic movies every night."

Now Eustace was a little bit intrigued.

"What kind of classics?" he asked.

Avery narrowed her eyes and with a smile she said, "They play classic monster movies tonight. Like The Blob and Bride of Frankenstein. At least it'll be better than whatever they'll be playing on TV tonight."

Eustace folded up his paper and said, "Very well. But if you're playing a trick on me.."

Avery didn't let him finish and said, "I'm not. Come walk with me and you'll see."

Eustace stood up from his chair, got on his jacket and walked with her to the door.

"At the very least we'll get a somewhat nice day out," she said.

"So long as it don't rain," said Eustace.

* * *

For the past half hour, both niece and uncle walked along the streets of this unfamiliar town on the opposite end of the state. There wasn't much, in fact there was less to do here than there was in the town of Nowhere. But still Avery insisted on walking around and looking for at least a little something to do while they waited for the movies to begin, but that was still a couple of hours away.

At least Nowhere had places where people could congregate. All that this town had was a few random office spaces, a store, a small eatery and a park. And she could see her aunt and Coruage sitting in the park nearby, so that was a no go for them.

She led her uncle away from there, not wanting to deal with him harassing Courage right now. So they ended up walking down one of the town's side streets and away from the park, all in awkward silence.

Avery decided that now would probably be a good time to break the ice, so she asked him, "So how's farming been going for ya?"

Eustace grumbled a bit and said, "About as it always goes."

Avery inhaled sharply in her mind and inside of her head she said, 'So not good like always. Uncle Horace he is not.'

Not wanting to get her uncle's ire than she already had, she merely nodded and said, "I see. Now what about you and your mom?"

Eustace stubbornly crossed his arms and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

'You never do,' Avery said inside her head again and even felt a little sweat coming to her forehead.

They walked in silence for a little bit longer.

"How about you?" Eustace asked with his demeanor changing just a little.

Avery gave him a surprised look and asked, "What?"

"How are you getting along after... you know," Eustace asked.

Avery knew what he was getting at. Ever since she had moved in she had seen nothing but his angry side. But now this? This was a little crazy.

She shrugged and said, "Doing okay I guess. I just... really miss them."

Eustace nodded and said, "Who wouldn't?"

"Do you ever miss Uncle Horace?" Avery asked.

The softer demeanor on his face hardened once again as he looked away from her and said, "Nope!"

Avery crossed her own arms now and said, "Uncle Eustace, I know you well enough to know your voice tones."

He still growled a little and Avery rolled her eyes a bit. As she got a brief look up at the sky though, she swore she saw someone float through the sky tied to a balloon. Someone that was a little dog shaped.

"Maybe on certain days," Eustace suddenly said.

That broke Avery out of her gaze and turned her attention back to Eustace.

"Sometimes I will admit... I do miss his rough housing. At least he gave me SOME attention when he did that," Eustace admitted a little.

"More than your ever parents did?" she asked.

Eustace uncrossed his arms at last and said, "I'm hungry. Let's go get some lunch."

He began walking over to a nearby diner and Avery couldn't help but shake her head. She managed to get him to open up a little bit, but his usual rough exterior continued to show through.

"Just keep at it girl. Eventually you'll get through to him," she told herself.

* * *

They walked out of the diner a few minutes later, both of them carrying a hot dog in little paper trays. Avery had nothing but mustard on hers while Eustace had his fully loaded with all sorts of toppings. Relish, ketchup, mustard, onion. Pretty much everything that the place offered was piled up on Eustace's hot dog. Avery couldn't help but laugh as she watched her uncle try very hard to take just one bite of it.

She took a bite of hers and said, "See? That's why I always go with just mustard on mine. It's easier to eat and a lot less messier."

Eusatce finally managed to take a small bite of his hot dog, letting some relish and onions fall from it.

"That's the beauty of it. Once I finish the hot dog, I can have whatever falls out of it to finish it off. Why do you think I grabbed this on the way out?" he said and pulled out a little plastic spoon.

Avery chuckled and said, "Whatever floats your boat I guess."

She finished her hot dog in no time and could hear Eustace trying to noisily scarf his down. Deciding that she didn't want to be disgusted by his sloppy eating habits, she decided to look back up at the sky. The dog with the balloon was gone, but now she saw a plane flying through the air. What was peculiar is that she swore that it looked like there were three people walking on the wings of the plane as the plane lurched from side to side.

"That looks pretty ominous," she said quietly to herself.

"What does?" asked Eusatce with his mouth full.

Avery groaned, looked at him and said, "Okay if you're going to talk, can you please swallow your food first?"

Eustace grunted and swallowed the huge bite without properly chewing, making Avery glare at him.

"What? I can't be slightly curious and eat at the same time? What's this country coming to?" Eustace said.

Avery shot him a glare and said, "You're going to choke on it if you do that and just so you know, I'm not familiar with the Heimlich Maneuver."

Eustace turned away and said, "Bah!"

Avery could feel her temper beginning to rise and said, "Just finish your hot dog please. We should really get to the theater before the movies begin. People flock here to see them."

"Yeah yeah!" Eustace said and went back to eating his hot dog.

She looked back up to where she had seen the plane, but now it was gone. All she could do was hope that whoever was in the plane would be fine and didn't crash somewhere. In due time, Eustace finished his hot dog and the two discarded their little paper trays after Eustace ate up the fallen toppings.

'At least the theater should be peaceful,' Avery said in her head.

* * *

They walked to the movie theater, which thankfully wasn't too crowded just yet. There was a small line of people waiting, due to the fact that fans of classic cinema will gladly flock to any theater showing them. Avery was honestly surprised that there weren't more people than there already were. The crowd however was not Avery's main issue right now.

"Who the heck takes their kids to see monster movies?" Avery said angrily.

Sure enough, there were quite a few kids running around the main lobby of the theater without any adults supervising them whatsoever. Kids running about screaming, messing with the concession stand and snacks within, annoying the adults waiting patiently to get tickets. But the worst part? Annoying the heck out of Avery.

A couple of giggling kids ran right past her, knocking into her a little in the process. One of them even nearly stepped on her foot. They didn't even apologize for it and ran ahead to continue terrorizing the rest of the theater lobby instead.

Avery growled and said, "And people wonder why I can't stand kids."

One of the brats even ran straight into Eustace, stomping on his foot in the process.

"YOW! Rotten kids. I'll show them what happens when they step on me," he muttered as he glared at the kids.

Despite Avery's personal aggravation with these kids, she was afraid that any attempt at retaliation could spell disaster for the both of them. Tonight's double feature was the one thing she'd been looking forward to the entire day. She did not want to be ejected over some kids.

"Leave it alone Uncle Eustace. If we escalate it, that will only spell disaster for you and m-" Avery said, but was interrupted as the manager began to yell at the kids. The kids in return all jumped on him and knocked him over... making him fall right into Avery with a scream.

The manager apologized for the mishap, but Avery didn't hear it. At this point, she was just done. She was done with these kids and only wanted to go in and relax with a classic monster movie. If the parents weren't going to control their kids, then measures had to be taken into her own hands.

She turned to her uncle and asked, "Do you have your mask with you?"

Eustace laughed, knowing exactly what she was getting at, and said, "I always do."

Avery wasted no time. While the kids were still practically crowded around her, she reached into Eustace's back pocket. It didn't take her long to find exactly what she was looking for. She slipped it out, turned away from the still acting up kids and when she looked back, all of their laughter stopped. Avery didn't even need to crouch to get in their faces. The moment she began looking back at the kids, all of the laughing stopped and was replaced by the startled gasps of the children.

Avery wasn't done yet though, oh no. She decided to go full like her uncle. She waved arms about and hollered, "Oohga booga booga! I'M GONNA EAT YOU!"

The kids scattered about screaming and most of them ran straight out of the theater. Both Avery and Eustace laughed at the scene, Avery even expecting to be kicked out for this.

'That was so worth it though', she said in her head.

To her surprise however, half the people in the room began to clap for her.

"Okay now this is unexpected," she said

The manager stood up, laughed and said, "Thanks for helping us with them. Those kids have been terrorizing the theater for most of the day. Their parents dropped them off this morning and haven't been back since."

Avery groaned internally and mentally said, 'Seriously? What is up with parents these days?'

Afterwards, the manager offered the two of them some free snacks for the movie, which the two took vantage of. Eustace and Avery got into their monster double feature without any little kids to further deal with. In the end, the both of them were just glad their painfully average day ended on a more positive note.

* * *

**So that's the chapter. I'm sorry if it felt boring or rushed, but by the time i got to the last few lines, I just wanted to be done. Next chapter should be better though. Why? Because next time we meet Katz. **


	8. Night at the Katz Motel

**Wow, got this one out quickly didn't I? Well I wanted to get another chapter out quickly to make up for the lack of updates in July. So please sit back and enjoy the show. This is one of my favorite season 1 episodes and the first episode to introduce us to Courage's arch-nemesis. Please enjoy.**

**Also I'm gonna try out something different. Instead of putting all the focus from Avery's POV, I'm gonna try it with multiple POV's in the chapter. I hope you all like it.**

* * *

After spending a week at the lake house, it was finally time for the family to head home after all of Eustace's memories had come back from his knock to the head. Problem is that they had started back very late in the day and once it had gotten dark out, they were still a few hours from home. They passed by multiple signs, advertising a number of different motels and hotels. But it wasn't until they saw one sign that it told them that it was time to stop for the night.

'KATZ MOTEL 2 MILES. LAST MOTEL FOR 100 MILES'

Avery couldn't help but groan out loud. She really really wanted to get back to the farm, but they were still too far out from there. So what choice did they have now but to stop?

"Oh Eustace, we'll have to stop for the night," Muriel said as she saw the sign.

Eusatce growled and said, "It figures. Alright I'll pull in."

A couple of miles down the road, the motel finally came into sight and they pulled into it. It looked like your generic, run of the mill motel that you see all along the highway. Nothing too out of the ordinary and looked normal to the family. At the very least it was a place to sleep for the night.

Eusatce took one look at the place and said, "This looks like a crummy place to end a crummy vacation."

Avery rolled her eyes at him. She thought the past week had been nice one, but knew just how stubborn her uncle truly was. Courage in the meantime was shivering up a storm on Muriel's lap. Avery could tell that the little guy was spooked by something out here and couldn't blame him. As normal as the place looked, something about it seemed off to her. It was the last place to sleep for many miles, yet not one other car was parked here. Moreover, it didn't even look like anyone had stayed here for quite some time. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she felt like something was up with this place.

Lightning suddenly crashed suddenly, making Courage scream and jumped onto Avery's neck. He shivered violently as Avery carefully and gently pried his arms loose from around her and patted him gently on the head, whispering comforting words to him.

They all went inside, with Avery carrying Courage in, and Eustace rang the bell on the front desk. Out of nowhere, a mysterious red figure silently rose up from behind the desk. As more of him appeared, they could all see that he was a lanky, humanoid cat with very red fur and a leer that made Avery feel a little uncomfortable. She even shivered slightly as she saw him.

'I hope this guy only looks creepy,' Avery thought to herself.

His voice was friendly enough however.

"Welcome to the Katz Motel," the cat said as he looked down at his book. "I'm Katz. Would you please sign in?"

His eyes then suddenly landed on Courage and with a look of anger, he snapped his fingers and pointed to something up on the wall. They all turned their heads to look and saw a sign that read, 'No Dogs Allowed.'

"Sorry, but no dogs allowed in the building or rooms," said Katz.

"But! But! But!" gasped out.

Without another word, Eustace took Courage from Avery's arms and took him back outside. Avery thought that either she or Muriel ought to have been the ones to take him back out or try to reason with the manager, but knew there'd be no arguing with Eustace in his grumpy attitude and it was the rules of the establishment after all.

Avery turned back to Katz and said, "What's wrong with having dogs in the motel?"

Katz didn't bat an eye and said, "I just don't want the other guests to be disturbed in the middle of the night."

'What other guests?' Avery thought to herself.

Muriel turned back to Katz and finished signing them in. As Avery rested her hands upon the counter, Katz turned his eyes towards the wrist of her right hand and caught a look of the ornament currently adorning Avery's wrist. Avery could tell that Katz was looking at the bracelet and pulled it away from the counter.

"My apologies miss, but I couldn't help but admire the bracelet adorning your wrist. I must say that it is a fine piece of jewelry," Katz said polietly.

"Um... thanks... I guess," Avery said sheepishly.

She didn't want to look rude, but something about the way Katz had looked at the bracelet had made her feel uneasy. She was sure that it was most likely just her imagination running wild, but there was something about this character that made her shiver. The fact that the bracelet let out a few pulses didn't help matters either.

Katz turned back to the book and said, "Okay so it says here you are requesting only one room. However, we do have plenty of vacancies available right now and we do have a special offer going on during our slow season. I can offer the young lady her own room, at no extra charge of course."

'Huh, that's mighty friendly of him. Maybe I was just too quick to judge him. Not all creepy people have ill intentions after all,' she thought to herself from her few expeirences in the town of Nowhere.

Katz offered them the room keys with both Avery and Muriel thanking him profusely. Avery held back a moment and watched the manager place a couple of boxes on top of the counter and tossing in what looked like little scraps of meat into them.

'Must have pets in them,' she thought to herself but still felt a little uneasy about him. The bracelet sure seemed to act up around him, that's for sure.

She walked out, just in time to see Muriel whacking Eustace over the head with her purse and him asking, "What did I do?" as usual. Followed by Muriel handing him their room key.

'Must have scared Courage again,' she thought. 'Poor little guy.'

Muriel comforted Courage a little by placing a blanket around him, telling him that it'll only be for the night. She finished by kissing him on the head. Avery sat down on the deck next to him and spent a couple of moments, patting him on the head and promising to give him a treat once they got home to make up for the night.

Avery's room was just a couple of doors down from her aunt and uncle's room and upon first sight, it looked normal enough. The carpet was a bit shabby, but the furniture was nice at least. She sat down on the bed and it felt soft enough for her and the sheets were at least clean, so at least the night here wouldn't be so bad.

"It's just for tonight at least," she said and set her suitcase down on the bed. "Still, I don't like the way the guy looked at Courage or the bracelet. I might just be paranoid, but I think I'll be chaining the door tonight and drawing the curtains too. Shower now though, worry later."

With that, she grabbed her white nightgown from the suitcase and went into the bathroom.

Turns out, she had every reason to be paranoid.

* * *

In the meantime back in the office, the door to the backroom opened and inside was a true nightmare for anyone. Inside the room was a giant a spiderweb with a large number of human bones scattered underneath of it. Big fat mutated spiders crawled all along the web as light flooded in through the open door. Katz stood before the open door, carrying one of his boxes under his arm.

"My loves, dinner has arrived," he said to the spiders.

They all hissed, snapping their mandibles and drooled in eager anticipation of having some fresh meat. They began skittering their legs in anticipation of a bountiful feast.

"Just one exception. There is a young lady in room number three. I have something special planned for her and will be taking care of her personally," he said and began closing the door but opened it once again. "Oh and by the way, your web is such a mess. Clean it up would you?"

With that, he closed the door leaving the room dark once more.

* * *

In Eustace and Muriel's room, Muriel was preparing herself a nice hot bath while Eustace prepared himself for bed. He made himself comfortable and was soon fast asleep. He was snoring awfully loudly... even as the eyes on the picture above him looked down at him.

As Muriel prepared herself for her bath, the nozzle of the shower head slid open and someone peered in to observe her.

Back in Avery's room, she stepped out of the bathroom having already dried herself off from her shower and already dressed for bed. She set her bath towel on the toilet cover and sighed in relief.

"I really needed that shower. I think my nerves are starting to calm down now," she said as she crossed the room to the bed.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being observed through a hidden hole in one of the picture frames. Like the person on the other side was patiently waiting for something. He watched as she took a seat at the foot of the bed and took the white slippers off of her feet. As she lied back down to relax, that was the perfect cue.

The person on the other side laughed and pushed a hidden button nearby. Within a second of him pushing the button, the bed that the young lady sat upon began to raise upwards from behind, inclining it.

Avery shot up in the bed and said, "What the? What's going on?"

At that moment, a hatch opened up on the floor at the foot of the bed. Avery tried rolling off the side of the bed, but it did her no good. It moved up far too quickly and she slid off of the bed and into the hatch on the floor. Her scream of surprise and terror was silenced as the hatch slid closed. The bed returned to it's proper position, leaving no trace of what had just happened.

As for Avery, she suddenly found herself sliding down a dark metal chute. She tried to grab the sides, but it did no good as they were far too polished. She tried to turn herself around, but this simply made her start sliding down head first. In short order, the chute came to an end and she found herself falling from the chute and into the open air. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to land on the hard floor with a painful thud.

Before she hit the ground however, she felt something catch her with a thick springing sound. She opened her eyes to see that she was in a dim room and something was holding her upside down. Not only that, but whatever she had landed on was gently bouncing her up and down like it was made of elastic bands.

"Well, I guess it could have been worse," she said and then tried to pull her body up.

But as she tried to sit up, whatever it was that she had landed in had suddenly pulled her back down. She tried to move her arms, but the mesh that she was caught in pulled her back to it's previous position. She then tried to move her legs, but found that the too were stuck in place.

"Okay that can't be good," she said.

She raised her head up and immediatly afterwards, she turned pale. She wasn't an expert, but she knew what a spider web looked like and that she was caught in one right now. It wasn't just the strands that shimmered even in this low light that drew her attention, but the fact that she could now feel the adhesive on the strands clinging to her skin, hair and nightgown. She pulled at them as hard as she could, but there was no breaking them.

Even worse is that she knew there was no known species of spider that could spin a web like this. Meaning that this was either a nasty prank... or that she was right about this place all along.

"Scratch that. This IS worse," she said fearfully.

* * *

Back outside, Courage was still shivering badly. Not from the cold air, thanks to the blanket that Muriel had draped around him, but from the fact that the place was still giving him the creeps. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep or simply wait until morning came because he highly doubted that sleep would be happening in this place.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him from nearby. He turned his head in the direction that they were coming from and saw a shadow standing at the corner of the deck. A shadow shaped a lot alike the manager of this creepy establishment.

The appearance of the shadow terrified Courage as he gasped and his eyes began to bug out. From around the corner wall came the manager's arm as he set a box down on the deck and then opened the front of the box before backing away. Courage couldn't help but shiver even harder and whimper some more. His worst fears were confirmed when a big red spider skittered out of the box towards him.

Courage did the one thing he could think of that moment. He screamed and howled at the horrific sight of the arachnid skittering towards him. He still couldn't move from this spot because of his leash being tied to the post of the deck. He tugged on the leash as hard as he could, but couldn't get it loose. The spider kept on coming. The next thing Courage tried was blowtorching the leash, but to his shock and surprise the leash was still unharmed. So he tried using a chainsaw, nothing. A chemical explosive? Nothing.

The spider was getting closer and closer and Courage was no closer to getting himself free from the leash. So he went with the only option he had left. He began gnawing on the leash like a wild animal... and the leash snapped.

Courage sat surprised for a second before hollering, "Yay!" and running off right as the spider reached the spot and stopped there in aggravation.

* * *

Back in Eustace and Muriel's room, Muriel was relaxing into her bath while Eustace snoozed away in his bed.

Muriel was humming gently to herself and was half dozing herself, so she didn't notice the eight green spindly legs pull themselves out of the bath faucet. Quickly followed by the body of the spider plopping into the tub of water.

Muriel sighed in contentment and said, "Finally! I can relax."

She sunk lower in the tub to do so. But it wasn't until she heard the sound of something skittering above the water that she was brought out of her half dozing state. Upon sight of the spider, Muriel was suddenly wide awake again and let out a scream. A scream that didn't go unnoticed by Courage outside.

Courage howled out loud again and he grabbed the door knob to the room, but it wouldn't budge. He then pounded on the door, hollering for Muriel. When this failed, he rushed off but quickly returned with a cannon. He climbed in and shot himself into the room through the window. He could see Muriel in the bathroom, actually managing to hold off the spider.

Muriel saw him and said, "COURAGE! GO AND GET HELP!"

In a panic, Courage jumped onto Eustace's bed, trying desperately to wake the old man up. Eustace didn't even stir. So Courage tried a couple of different ways to wake him up, but each attempt failed.

Feeling frustrated, Courage ran back to the bathroom where Muriel was still trying to hold off the snapping spider.

"COURAGE! DID YOU FIND ANY HELP?!" she hollered out.

While this was going on, Eustace's bed flipped around and he disappeared into the floor. Courage returned to find him missing and the means of salvation gone. He screamed as the situation was growing more dire.

"COURAGE! GO FIND AVERY! MAKE SURE SHE'S OKAY! SEE IF SHE CAN HELP!" Muriel shouted from the bathroom.

Courage did just that and ran from the motel room, running as fast as he could towards Avery's room. Thankfully her room door was easier to open than Eustace and Muriel's and he was able to get in no problem. He found her suitcase on the floor and her other belongings in the bathroom, but there was no sign of Avery anywhere. Courage looked around frantically, but saw no other signs of her in the room.

He let out a terrified howl and howled in a way that sounded like, "Where is everyone?!"

* * *

Avery tugged at the sticky strands that were holding her off of the ground, but no matter how hard she tugged she'd remain hopelessly trapped in the web. With every tug, she could feel her muscles begin to strain and the adhesive on the strands pulled at her skin. So all she could do was lie back and hope that someone would come find her and soon. She didn't have to wait long for someone to arrive though.

After a few minutes, she could hear the sound of footsteps approaching. These were followed by a clicking and jingling sound from the door. It opened and in stepped the manager that Avery had seen earlier, a box was tucked under his arm.

"You?" she gasped out.

Katz stood at the door before her and said, "Good evening and how are you enjoying your stay at the Katz Motel?"

Avery shot him a death glare, but he was unfazed. He stepped into the room and set the box down on a table in the corner.

"Rendered you speechless I assume. And I must say that you're nightwear looks stunning on you," he complimented.

Avery said nothing. So Katz walked to where her wrist with bracelet was sitting. Avery tried to tug her arm away, but the webbing prevented that. Katz brought his eyes down to it get better look and scratched his chin.

"Peculiar, very peculiar. Tell me young lady, where did you obtain this ornament?" he asked.

"Why would I tell you?" Avery answered.

Katz chuckled and said, "So you DO have a voice now? Alright, where you got it isn't important. What I am interested in is what it's capable of. So please, tell me what it can do."

Avery closed her eyes and turned her head away from him, remaining defiant.

"Alright, you don't have to tell me, I'll find out for myself. So now for my final question. How do you get it off?" he asked.

Avery turned her head back to him and shook her head.

Katz sighed as he said, "Clearly it's too small to slide off of your wrist and there's no way that it got on by natural means. So you must know something."

Avery glared back at him and said, "I don't even know how it got on me or how I can get it off. Even if I did know, I wouldn't be telling you."

Katz groaned in frustration and said, "Fine. We'll do this the hard way then."

With that, he walked back over to the box. Avery followed his movements and it was here now that she noticed that the box itself was shaking. Suddenly any courage she had just had began to fade away. She watched as he opened the box and pulled something out. Something alive and feisty.

He turned back to her and she could see that he was holding a large orange spider. It took one look at Avery and it began to go wild with a ravenous appetite. It's maw snapping and drool running from it's mouth.

"You don't need ME to tell just how horrific a death at the fangs of a spider are. How it pierces the skin and digests it's prey alive before drinking the resulting soup. Feel like talking now?" he asked.

Avery tugged even harder than before and stammered, "I swear! I don't kno-"

Katz cut her off and said, "Wrong answer."

He laughed evilly as he brought the spider down towards Avery's face. She winced and her adrenaline began to run through her as the spider's legs began stroke all over her face as it's drool dripped onto her neck and chest.

Katz's evil laugh echoed in the room as Avery squirmed in the grip of the web with nowhere to run and a hungry spider wanting to make her it's meal.

She finally took a breath and screamed.

* * *

Seeing as he had no place else to go, Courage ran straight for the Motel's main office. He dashed right in and without observing the room first, began morphing into various reptilian creatures to get the sense of danger across the mind of whomever was in the room. It wasn't until his panic subsided that he finally realized that there was nobody at all in the room. No manager or anything. Just an empty office with the back room door hanging open.

Courage wanted to run away from the room and look for help elsewhere, but knew that he couldn't help anyone if he simply ran off. With his heart still pounding in his chest, he ran over to the back room door and took a look inside.

Oh how his heart began to beat faster.

Inside the room was a large web. In the very center of it was Eustace... wrapped all up in webbing and still snoring like nothing had bothered him at all. And skittering down from one corner was a large purple spider with it's maw snapping and drool dripping from it's mouth.

Courage took a breath and let out one of the loudest howls he had ever released.

* * *

Back with Avery, she felt tears welling up in her eyes as the spider's maw kept coming closer to her face as Katz brought it closer and closer to her. But right at the sound of a loud nearby howl, he finally pulled back and turned his head towards the door.

"Now what could that have been?" he said and then turned back to Avery. "My darling, I must leave you for a bit. But fret not, I will return shortly."

With that, he pulled the spider away from Avery's face and took it back over to the box that he had carried it in.

"Now be a good baby spider and stay in here. Daddy will be back to serve you dinner soon," he cooed to the spider and locked the top of the box.

He stepped to the door, looked at Avery and said, "I shall leave the light on for you. I wish to see the look of terror on your face when I return."

The spider inside the crate began to bang on the lid. Katz chuckled darkly as he walked out and closed the door. As soon as he was out of the room, the spider inside the crate suddenly began to bang at the side of it. Banged on it HARD.

So hard that the box was suddenly knocked off of the table and to the floor. It landed on it's side and as it landed, it broke part of the latch that locked it. As a result, the spider spilled out of the box and onto it's back. It quickly righted itself back up to it's feet and turned itself around. It turned it's gaze to the web and landed it's eyes right on Avery.

Avery's heart began to race in her chest and she found herself beginning to tug at the sticky strands of the web again.

"Oh no! Please no," she hollered as she began tugging at the strands a bit harder.

The spider wasted no time in climbing onto the web and skittering its way up to her. In short order, it was on top of her. It used it's back two legs to keep her head still and it's two front legs latched onto her ankles. With the legs in front of the back ones, it reached under it's abdomen and Avery watched in horror as it began to pull silk out from it's spinnerets.

Avery was familiar with spiders all too much to know what it was going to do next. With the two legs behind it's front ones, it pulled a ribbon of silk from it's abdomen and wrapped it around Avery's ankles and began working the silk up her calves.

Avery shrieked as the spider set to work on cocooning her.

* * *

Back in the office's back room, the spider skittered closer and closer to Eustace's still snoozing form and prepared to feed on him. Courage grabbed a floor board directly underneath him and managed to pull it right out of the floor after only a few tugs. By now the spider had reached Eustace, began prodding his body and prepared it's deadly bite.

Courage took the board and with one strong swoop he was able to bring it down on the spider, squashing and killing it. He quickly climbed up the board and was able to easily pull Eustace off of the web and run back down.

But before he could run out of the room with Eustace, Courage found that his escape route was blocked by a familiar red cat.

"Leaving so soon?" snarled Katz as he slammed the door to the office closed.

Courage howled again and in an instant, he threw Eustace right at Katz. Right as Eustace's cocooned form slammed into Katz, Courage made a dash for another door in the room. He dashed in, found that it led to some stairs and ran down them in his bid to escape.

Katz was able to pull himself out from under Eustace's still sleeping body and said, "I wish you hadn't done that."

Courage ran but found no ways back up and dashed into a side room. The room was dark with no light shining anywhere, but thankfully Courage felt around beside the door and found a light switch.

Only he quickly regretted turning on the lights.

All along the room were shelves. Shelves loaded with many jars containing even more deformed versions of the spiders that Courage had already witnessed. Indicating that the things that he had seen certainly were not normal spiders and that someone had taken great time and effort to create them.

Courage let out the loudest shriek that he had ever made. He didn't even bother opening the door as he ran out, he simply knocked it down and crushed Katz as he ran away from the freak show.

"I wish you hadn't done that," Katz said angrily from under the door.

Courage screamed as he sprinted down the hall, but then heard another scream from one of the nearby doors. A familiar shriek that made his blood run cold. He dashed to the door and to his horror, saw Avery hanging upside down in a web as she struggled against one of the spiders. Already the webbing was up to her waist as the spider snapped it's maw quickly with drool running out. Tears ran from Avery's eyes as she pleaded for help. She couldn't even move her head to look at Courage as the spider kept her head still with it's back legs.

Courage would have been able to run in and help her, when he heard a voice behind him.

"Got you now," Katz said as he popped up behind Courage.

Katz made to grab at Courage, but the little dog was able to evade the grab and sprint down the hall once more. He'd have to come back and help Avery later. But his path came to a dead end, trapping him with Katz.

He turned to run back... only to see Katz stepping out of the shadows, just glaring at Courage.

"There's no place to run and no place to hide," he said in a surprisingly calm voice.

Courage shivered as Katz approached him. To his surprise however, Katz pulled out a rubber bouncy ball and began bouncing it against the floor.

"A little sport before dying dear boy?" Katz asked.

Courage knew that he had no choice as Katz served the ball at the wall. The ball bounced back towards Courage who then bounced it back to the wall and back to Katz. Katz did the same and then the game was on.

* * *

Back in the bathroom of Muriel's room, she was still holding off the spider that was trying to get to her. Even though she had it's legs trapped, it still snapped madly at her.

"Oh you fiend you," Muriel stammered at the nasty spider.

Even with it's legs trapped, the spider was still getting close to biting her. But just as the spider slowed a little, Muriel saw her chance. She used all of her strength to toss the spider away from her. But some lucky shot, it landed right in the toilet. Wasting no time, Muriel used her big toe to flush the toilet. It sent the spider down the drain, effectively crushing it in the pipe and potentially drowning it.

As soon as the danger was gone, Muriel dried herself off and dressed. There was no way they were staying here tonight. She'd much rather get back on the road and wait until they got home to go to sleep then stay here a minute longer. She walked back out into the motel room and her anger grew as she saw no trace of Eustace in the room.

Muriel glared around the room and said, "Now where has that man gone to?"

* * *

Avery shrieked again as the spider continued trailing it's silk up her body. The skirt of her nightgown was no longer visible under the mesh of silk. The web cocoon was now just under her chest as the spider paused. It turned to her left arm and with a sudden jerk, the spider managed to pull her arm off of the web. Avery felt a sharp pain shoot through the spots where web had held her arm, as the spider bent her arm and placed her left hand on her chest and webbed it to her.

"Please no!" Avery sobbed as her left hand was cemented to her and she squinted her eyes shut.

The spider then turned to her right arm and one of it's legs landed on her wrist... and on top of the bracelet.

The next thing Avery knew, she heard a loud shriek that lasted only for a fraction of a second that was quickly silenced. She felt a burst of of heat, also lasting only a fraction of a second at the same time as the shriek. She opened her eyes to see that the spider was no longer on top of her.

Instead the spider was lying crumpled on the floor, dead. It's body was blackened and charred from being flash fried.

Avery looked at the spiders body, tears still falling from her eyes, and took a quick look at the bracelet. It pulsated as she stared at it.

"Did you do that?" she asked it, already knowing the answer.

The bracelet pulsated some more and she brought it to her chest. The next thing she knew, the webbing on her began to burn away from her left arm and chest, not even hurting her. She did the same for the rest of her body and to the web around her. In no time at all, her body was free of the cocoon and she was free of the web. She landed on the floor with a soft thud and quickly pulled herself back up to her feet.

She wanted to cry out in joy, but knew that the danger was not over yet. She still needed to find the others and convince them to get out of the hotel. She ran out of the room, kicking the dead spider's charred body and out into the hall.

She heard the sound of Courage's shrieks from down the hall and they weren't his usual terrified shrieks. She knew that he had to be in danger.

"Courage!" she gasped and began running in his direction.

* * *

Back with Courage, the game continued and went on. Courage was having a hard time, but Katz was having it easy. He sipped tea, read a book and even practiced his tennis swing. Courage was getting worn out, while Katz wasn't even breaking a sweat. In due time, Courage missed the ball and was knocked over when it struck him right in the head.

He groaned as he lied on the ground and Katz stood over him, setting his tennis racket off to the side. Katz popped the muscles in his neck and kneeled down to Courage's level.

"I'm afraid that you lose dear boy," he said and then gripped Courage by the neck.

Courage began to struggle in Katz's grip, but the exertion of their game of handball had tired him out too much that he could barely even struggle. Katz even grit his teeth in anger.

"Now you're going to learn why no one EVER checks out of the Katz Motel," Katz said with a sneer.

Courage began to shiver as Katz applied some pressure to his throat.

Katz raised one of his hands, revealing one of his spiders as it snapped it's maw at Courage. He began to laugh maniacally as held the spider up high and stared down at Courage, ready to finish this once and for all. Courage howled, knowing what was coming his way. Not only in fear, but in despair. He had failed. He'd failed to save Avery and he had failed to save Muriel. He had even failed to save himself.

Katz laughed even louder. So loud, that he didn't hear the sounds of the footsteps creeping up behind him. The next thing he knew, his tennis racket was slammed over him and pinned his arms to his sides, immobilizing him and knocking him out. The spider fell from his hands, but didn't get far as Avery ran over to it and pressed her right hand against it, flash frying it as well.

Avery nodded in satisfaction before looking at Katz's form.

"Didn't see that coming did you jerk?" she said to him.

She looked at Courage as he looked up at her.

"Yay!" he gasped out of his sore throat.

She knelt down and scooped him up, holding him gently in her arms.

"Come on Courage, lets see if we can convince aunt Muriel to leave this dump," she said to him.

Courage nodded in approval.

* * *

A short time later Avery was walking out of her room, dressed in her casual clothes again as Courage waited over by the manager's office. She had already been to the back room and managed to burn the web and any spiders that she found skittering about in there. She even burned Eustace free of his cocoon, still leaving him asleep.

Upon arriving at the office though, she found her aunt walking out, looking furious.

"Aunt Muriel? Are you okay?" she asked.

Muriel shook her head and said, "No I am not. There are giant bugs running around here and the manager is nowhere to be found to take care of it. I even found your uncle asleep in the back room. Beds must be so bad here that he found the office more comfortable. This place has terrible customer service. We're leaving and NEVER coming back."

Those were words that Avery was happy to hear. The four of them clambered into the truck and drove away from the forsaken motel, not daring to look back.

All but Eustace who had slept through the whole thing.

* * *

Back in the downstairs hallway, Katz regained his senses and lifted himself off of the ground. He shook his head clear and made his way back up to the motel office. To his displeasure, he found all of his beloved spiders dead and his potential victims gone. The spiders of his had been genius and took a lot of time and work to create. There's no way he'd be getting them going again any time soon. But that didn't matter to him right now. What did matter to him was that young woman and the key she possessed.

He left the back room and went back into his office, flipping through the check-in book and found the names of the family that had just stayed there. It wasn't long before he found them.

"Bagge? I recognize that name. That old woman... the one who always beats me every year. I should have known," he said as his anger seethed. "And the young lady with MY family's birthright. Flaunting it as if it were her own heirloom. You two just wait. I'll come for you both and the both of you will pay."

* * *

**So I'll admit, the one thing in this episode I don't like is them just leaving before all the spiders were dealt with, possibly leaving them to claim more victims in the future. That's why I decided to have Avery show them no mercy. **

**The next episode will be Demon in the Mattress. Muriel will remain the demon's victim, but don't think that Avery won't be in it's sights as well.**


	9. Demon in the Mattress

**One thing to note before I start the chapter. I've been getting some VERY vulgar requests in the comments. Just note that I will keep this story's rating K+ and will likely push the envelope with that rating often. But I will never and I repeat NEVER go something as far as some of the things that one particular user has been requesting over and over again.**

* * *

A few days had passed since their return home and Avery was feeling better than before. Now that she knew what some of the things her bracelet was capable of, she feared a little less for herself. Yet she still knew that there were still dangers that threatened the rest of her family and chose to keep on guard at all times. Just in case something else that was weird or strange came it's way to threaten them.

All that really happened lately was that, every morning, Avery would get up and the first thing she'd do is stare intently at the photo of her and her parents. The bracelet would pulsate softly every time she did so, as if it could sense her sorrow and grief and tried to pull her out of it. One day she stared at the photo longer than intended. So long that a few minutes passed in a blur for her. She hadn't even felt the bracelet pulsate wildly, trying to get her to snap out of her thoughts.

She came downstairs that morning to see her Uncle Eusatce looking through the newspaper, like he was looking for something specific. Her aunt was at the stove, cooking up some breakfast while Courage was sitting at the breakfast table.

Avery walked by her uncle and said, "Morning Uncle Eustace. Looking for something?"

Eustace didn't look away from the paper and said, "Looking through the paper for any specials on mattresses. Your aunt is demanding a new one saying that it's time to get rid of the old one. I still think it's just fine."

Avery smirked and said, "Didn't expect you to suddenly give in to her demands."

Eustace growled and said, "Because if I don't then I'll be sleeping on the couch."

Avery had a look at the paper and noticed a little ad on one corner of it.

"Might want to try that one there," she said as she pointed it out.

He turned his attention to the ad and read it aloud.

"Mattress special," he said and then took a look at Courage who was still sitting at the table.

He took Courage's bowl and knocked it to the ground, grabbed Courage by the scruff of his neck deposited him on the ground, finally pushing the book Courage had been sitting on to the floor before depositing himself on the chair.

Avery watched the scene and said, "Was that really necessary?"

Eustace shrugged and said, "Dog shouldn't be sitting at the table. Floor's more comfortable for him anyway."

Avery sighed in exasperation and stooped down to Courage's level to pat him on the head.

Muriel looked back to them and said, "Ooh a mattress special."

She took the frying pan and placed the fried dog food into Courage's food bowl, making the little dog smile.

"With our mattress we'll change your life forever," Eustace continued reading.

Courage began munching on his food, but suddenly spat it back out.

Avery looked down at him and said, "You okay boy."

Courage nodded, yet was fanning his tongue having burned it on his still hot breakfast. Muriel hadn't taken notice as she was filled with excitement on the prospect of getting a brand new mattress.

* * *

Some time later, Eustace and Avery were watching TV in the den. Avery had made sure to help her aunt clean the breakfast dishes, but once she was done Muriel had insisted on making the call to the mattress supplier herself. She had shooed Avery away as she couldn't contain her excitement and didn't want to come off as looking weird to her niece, not that Avery would have minded anyway. But her aunt wanted to be by herself right now, so Avery decided to honor her wishes and joined her uncle in watching one of his classic horror movies.

Right in the middle of the movie, Courage came running into the room and picked up the receiver to the phone.

Avery looked at him and said, "What's up Courage?"

Courage ignored her and held the receiver up to his ear.

Eustace shook his head and said, "Stupid dog is being dumb again. Just ignore him and he'll stop."

Avery still wanted to make sure that all was good, as Courage usually had a sense that crazy things were going on. So she kept focusing on him. Something must have been up as Courage suddenly let out a gasp.

'Oh boy. Here we go again,' Avery said in her mind.

It took a couple more gasps from Courage before Avery took the phone receiver from him and held it up to her own ear. She had missed much of the conversation, but caught the tail end of it.

"We'll send it right over," said a smooth yet chilling voice on the other end.

This was followed by her aunt saying, "My address is-"

But she was cut off by the voice saying, "We know. We've been waiting for you."

Avery felt a chill run down her spine as she heard that. She hung up the phone and looked back at Courage.

"You know that chill you feel whenever something strange or ominous is happening boy?" she asked him.

Courage nodded with a whimper.

"Hang onto that, that might get us out of a bind."

Courage ran from the living room and back into the kitchen in a panic. Avery wanted to go in and warn her aunt, but she knew how Muriel was when it came to people. Especially ones with smooth and almost trustworthy voices. She loved her aunt, but knew that she wasn't always very good at judgement.

* * *

Some time passed and the sun began to go down, the sky itself was almost red from the cloud build up and the dust in the air. Avery had had an ominous feeling all day about this so-called mattress special. The feeling was practically justified when a dark stagecoach pulled right up to the house, pulled by an evil looking horse draped in a green cloak with the new mattress hanging out of the back of the stage. What got to her most though were the rats that were driving the stagecoach, both of whom were grotesque looking and nothing like the friendlier rat people that she had met around Nowhere.

The grotesque duo get down from the stagecoach and pulled the green mattress off of the back. Courage couldn't help but whimper as the two carried it into the house, his eyes bugging out at one point as they walked past him. The purple rat took notice of Courage's fear and let out an angry hiss at the poor dog, making Courage screech and latch onto Avery's leg. She patted the top of his head, not taking her eyes off of the doorway to the house.

"Doesn't it look lovely? Such a pretty color," Muriel said as she patted Courage's head as well.

"I've never seen a green mattress before. Someone must have been eager to get rid of it," Avery said as Muriel walked back into the house.

By now, the hideous delivery men had taken it upstairs and were now starting to leave. Though the purple one took the time to hiss at Courage again, making him scream once more. As the rat walked out, Avery merely took the door and slammed it right on the rat's tail, this time making him hiss out of pain and glared at her through the screen door. Avery merely stuck her tongue out at him.

Muriel went up the stairs to her room, leaving the duo downstairs. Eustace was already snoring away in his armchair and they both knew better than to wake him up for a possible false alarm. They went up the stairs and into Muriel's room as she was happily bouncing on the new mattress. Neither Courage or Avery missed the fact that the room was now taking on an eerie green glow.

Courage ran over to Muriel and began pulling on her apron, even shifting into the form of the purple rat from earlier. He tugged on her apron some more and to his and Avery's surprise, she smacked Courage's paws away.

"Aunt Muriel what was that?" Avery asked. "You're never like that to Courage."

"Sorry dear, but I didn't sleep well last night. I think I'll just have a wee little nap now. Away with you two, Auntie needs some rest," Muriel said and began shooing them out.

Knowing that there was no arguing with her, Avery and Courage walked out of the bedroom, but still glanced at the bedroom door as Muriel closed it. Courage tried to get back into the room, but couldn't even make the knob budge. So instead of fighting with the door anymore, he dashed away from the bedroom door and down the stairs and out of the house.

"Where are you going Courage?" Avery called after him and followed him out.

As she got outside, she saw him running back to the house with a ladder hanging over his head. He placed it underneath the window leading to Eustace and Muriel's room and climbed up, Avery climbing up after him. From there, they could see what was going on inside.

Just as both the both of them expected, Muriel was sound asleep on top of her bed. Snoring softly without anything bizarre happening in the slightest. It looked like she was sleeping on just a regular mattress.

Avery began to feel foolish as she thought to herself, 'Guess I was too quick to judge on this one.'

However that state of mind was suddenly vacated as she saw some ghostly wisps appear from under the bed and began making their way up to Muriel's still slumbering form. Both she and Courage screamed as the wisps began to envelop Muriel's body, finding a way into her through her nose.

'Okay scratch my previous thought. I've been getting bad at that lately,' she said to herself once more.

They watched as Muriel began to levitate in the air. They were about to watch more, but Courage pulled on the sides of the ladder so hard that he ended up ripping the ladder down the middle, sending them both to the ground below.

"Ow!" Avery said as landed on the ground. "How cheap was that ladder?"

Knowing how miserly her uncle was though, Avery shouldn't have been surprised that it broke as easily as tissue paper. But never mind that now, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

Both she and Courage ran back into the house, slamming the door shut and startling Eustace awake. Courage ran over to Eustace and began babbling his usual speech, but Eustace was not in the mood to listen to him.

"Wake me up will you? I'll fix you," Eustace said angrily.

Courage ignored Eustace's anger for once and continued babbling, pointing in the direction of Eustace and Muriel's room. He then morphed into Muriel being surrounded by a swirling mist, morphing back into the rat from earlier and then back into himself as he levitated off of the ground.

Eustace however hadn't paid attention and instead continued his angry glare to Courage and said, "Get away from me," and then went back to reading his newspaper.

Avery's turn was next as she said, "Uncle Eustace, he's saying that something is wrong with the mattress and Aunt Muriel might be in trouble."

Eustace didn't even bother looking up from his paper and said, "Avery I'm surprised at you. You should know better than to listen to this dumb dog."

Courage pulled at his ears with a howl and plucked Eustace off of his armchair and actually carried him up the stairs physically, risking the angry farmer's wrath.

"Man that is one strong dog," Avery said to herself as she followed them up.

Courage carried Eustace all the way up to the bedroom door and cracked it open.

Avery saw how easily he was able to do this and said in her head, 'Didn't aunt Muriel lock that earlier?"

All three of them took a peek inside and saw Muriel sitting upright in the bed. At least it mainly looked like Muriel. For the most part it looked like her, only instead of having Muriel's short white hair it had firey red hair sticking up all over her head with red eyes staring at them from behind Muriel's glasses, her skin having turned green as it stared at them from the bed.

It grinned at them, patted the side of the bed next to her and in a voice of pure evil it said, "Won't you join me?"

It began to laugh and it started twisting it's around in a terrifying manner with the three of them watching in utter horror. It continued to laugh as it spun it's head, until the head fell from Muriel's shoulders and rolled onto the ground. Avery, Courage and Eustace screamed as Muriel's head rolled over to the nightstand. But the creature was still amused.

"Oh, can one of you kids give me a hand," it said and turned it's sights to Avery. "How about you sweet cheeks? I think you and me would get along VERY well."

The trio screamed one more time and fled from the room.

The head rolled back onto the bed without aid and with a laugh it said, "Nevermind. I got this."

* * *

Hours passed and the trio were still sitting up in the living room. It was approaching midnight and they could still hear the creature up in Muriel's bedroom, groaning, gasping and even snoring a few times. All three of them shivered every time the demon made another sound, no matter how small. It was especially chilling to know that it was someone they loved that the sounds were coming out of. The clock struck midnight and the sounds were getting louder and more pronounced with each passing minute. Like it was getting more adapted to the vessel it currently inhabited. Eustace looked terrified as Courage and Avery were shivering terribly. Avery wrapped her arms around her legs and felt like weeping to herself.

"That dang mattress, gave her nightmares!" Eustace complained.

Avery scowled at him and said, "I think that's more than just nightmares afflicting aunt Muriel right now Uncle Eustace."

The creature made some more eerie noises, leaving all three of them shuddering once again.

"Well? We can't sit here all night," Eustace said with fear in his voice.

Courage babbled something back and the creature made more noises once again, terrifying them all once again. With every groan the creature made, Avery held her legs even tighter.

Eustace pointed at both Courage and Avery and said, "She like the both of you more. You two go see how she is."

Avery looked back at him. She wanted to glare at him, but right now she felt too much fear and grief to even begin to feel anger towards him. All she wanted to do was comfort herself and Courage if he sought some from her. She could feel a tear beginning to well up in one of her eyes.

Courage looked unsure, but when Eustace got more forceful, he ran up the stairs and towards the bedroom. Avery wanted to stay down there and away from whatever that thing was. But with her beloved aunt now being possessed by some beast and the dog she's now begun to view as a loyal companion, she just couldn't sit there and wait for something to happen.

Swallowing her fear, she stood up and said, "Hold up Courage. I'm coming with you."

Courage smiled for a moment and finished going up the stairs. The fear however, returned to the both of them as they reached the bedroom door and the sounds got louder and louder. The more the sounds the thing made, the more horrified they became. This time, without swallowing their fear, they opened the door and both were surprised when a chunk of ice broke off of the door frame and landed on the floor.

The room itself was now freezing. Despite it having been a warm day, the room itself now felt colder than a winter night. In the middle of the room was the creature, still lying in bed and still in possession of Muriel's body. With fear still prodding at them, both Avery and Courage stepped into the room with the creature remaining in bed and not bothering to even look up at them. Courage couldn't help but whine.

"Courage! Avery!" the creature called out as it turned it's head to them.

'It knows our names? Oh joy,' Avery thought.

"Closer," said the creature.

Avery and Courage complied and took a step closer.

"Closer," the creature said again.

They both felt hesitant, but still took a step or two closer until they were just next to the bed and within arms reach of the thing. Both of them trembled, not wanting to be anywhere near this beast.

The creature seemed to remain calm and spoke softly to them.

"It would be lovely... if I could... have a cup... of...," the creature said before finally shouting "TEA!"

It pulled the covers off of the bed, revealing a tea tray with a pot of tea and some cups were sitting on the bed. The sudden holler of the creature made Courage scream and Avery practically jumped out of her skin. Both quickly calmed down however when they realized that it was just a false alarm and the demon was simply messing with them.

By now, Avery's patience was running out as she glared back at the demon and said, "What did you do with my aunt?!"

The creature laughed and said, "She's in here. With us."

Out of nowhere, the demon returned to Muriel's normal look and she fearfully said, "Courage! Avery! Help me!"

But then she returned to the demon's normal look and with a laugh it said, "Whoops! Let one slip out."

Courage babbled angrily at the demon, leaving it unfazed by his anger.

"Oh yeah? What are YOU going to do about it?" the demon said to Courage.

In a rare move for the little dog, Courage glared at the demon and let his fingers crack. The demon did the same and stared Courage down and cracked it's own knuckles. Avery wasn't sure about what was going on and watched. She became confused however as Courage held out his thumb and the demon did the same as well. Then when the two clasped hands did she finally understand what was going on.

The two engaged in a thumb war of all things. The two battled it out with both of them being evenly matched, yet still the demon taunted Courage with every move he made. Courage began to sweat as he continued to concentrate on the game before him. The demon however retained a look of complete confidence. Eventually the two managed to press their thumbs together, but then the demon's thumb slipped while Courage's remained upright. They remained focused for a moment longer, before the demon hollered out "one, two, three" and managed to pin Courage's thumb with it's own, making Courage lose.

The demon laughed in triumph as Courage looked down in defeat.

Avery patted his head and said, "It's okay boy. We'll figure something out. Why don't you o to the computer and try to find something to help."

Courage looked at her and then back to Muriel with fear in his eyes.

"It's okay. I'll stay with her," Avery said and stroked the top of Courage's head.

Courage nodded, with fear still in his eyes, and then walked out of the room. With Courage away from the room, Avery turned to the creature and just glared at it. The creature noticed her anger and laughed at her anger.

"Got a problem with me blondy?" the demon asked mockingly.

Avery didn't answer and walked over to the thing.

"What the heck are you?" she asked.

The demon chuckled and said, "I'm whatever you want me to be doll face. I can be the thing you fear in the dark. Or I can be the thing you strive to be. Or, better for me, that thing you want so much. What do you say? You and me?"

Avery cringed and backed away from the thing a bit.

"I'd rather be possessed," she said angrily.

The demon laughed and said, "Oh I'm sure that would a be a lot of fun." He began looking at her in interest.

Avery continued to cringe and said in her head, 'That was a poor choice of words.'

The demon suddenly went wide eyed as it looked at her wrist and said, "Or with that thing on your arm, I might be able to interest you in something else. I believe that artifact can give you whatever you want."

"I don't want to hear it," she said and turned away.

She was expecting a witty retort from the demon, but what she heard next caught her off guard.

"Don't you want to hear from me baby girl?" came a woman's voice.

Avery's eyes went wide and she turned around with a start. Sitting on the bed, she no longer saw the demon or her aunt. Instead she saw a middle aged woman with brown hair, smiling happily at her.

"It's been a while. Hasn't it Avery?" she asked still smiling.

Avery could feel tears in her eyes and said, "Mama?"

Her mother smiled at her and beckoned her over. Avery couldn't help but step over to her, tears falling from her eyes.

"Mama? How... how is this..." she tried to ask.

Her mother shook her head and said, "Shh! You don't need to worry about that. All you need to know is that I can come back... for good. And that bracelet is the key and the thing in the bed can help. What do you say?"

Her mother held out her arms and Avery felt the urge to fall into her arms and melt into her mother's embrace. She reached out to her mother's hand and was about to touch it, when the thoughts of the current situation returned to her. She pulled her hand away and then glared back at her mother.

"You make me sick," Avery said and then tapped her bracelet.

The bracelet suddenly glowed and with a flash of light, the form of her mother disappeared and back in her place was the demon in Muriel's body. The demon showed some aggravation after it's plan had failed, but still laughed at Avery's expense.

"You loathsome beast," Avery hissed at the monster as tears fell from her eyes. "How could you?"

The monster laughed and said, "Can't blame a monster for trying. You really loved your mother didn't you hot stuff?"

Avery felt more tears welling up in her eyes and kept her glare fixed on the creature and walked back to the door. She just couldn't stay in that room with this beast anymore. Not after what it had just done to her.

She took one last look at it and said, "We'll make you pay for this."

The demon merely laughed in response. The bedroom door opened and Avery felt something tug at her arm. She looked back at the door and saw Courage standing there with a piece of paper in his paws. He saw the tears in Avery's eyes and worry crossed his face.

Avery wiped away the tears and said, "Don't worry about it Courage. Let's just go see what you found out."

Courage nodded and led her away from the room and the laughing monster.

* * *

Back in the living room, Eustace waited for the two to return. As the duo came to stop in front of him, Courage handed the sheet of paper to Eustace for him to read.

"Hey Courage, what was on that paper anyway?" Avery asked.

Courage made a shushing motion as Eustace read from the sheet of paper.

Eustace adjusted his glasses and said, "To perform an exorcism, put on a flowing... garment."

As he looked up from the sheet of paper, he was surprised to see Courage holding up one of Muriel's nightgowns and night cap. A look of confused anger crossed his face as he grabbed them and walked to the closet.

"Hey Uncle Eustace, maybe I should handle this one. For one, I'm a girl and it'll feel less awkward for you if you dress up," she offered, but Eustace shook his head.

"Nope. Gotta do this the right way," he said as he walked in and then returned a moment later.

To say that Avery was embarrassed to see her uncle dressed up in one of her aunt's nightgowns was putting it lightly.

Eustace turned his attention back to the sheet of paper and said, "Incantation to exorcise demon. What? Hulabaloo and howdy doo. Musty prawns and Timbuktu. Yeltzy by and hippity poo. Kick em in the dish pan hoo hoo hoo."

Avery looked at Eustace in confusion.

Eustace looked up from the paper and said, "Kick em in the dish pan hoo hoo hoo?"

"What kind of incantation is that?" Avery asked.

Courage merely shrugged.

* * *

Back in the bedroom, the demon was watching the three of them in amusement as Eustace stood next to the bed, still dressed up in Muriel's clothes and holding the sheet of paper. He was still trembling in fear. Avery stood in the hallway behind Courage, who was currently cheering on Eustace.

Avery's face fell and thought, 'He's gonna blow it. I just know he will.'

Eustace held the paper up to his face and began to read it. So lets see how he does.

"Uh... hullabaloo and howdy... doo. Musty prawns and tim-tim-tim-timmybuktu," he said.

Avery covered her face with her hand, knowing exactly that this was going to happen.

She looked down at Courage, who had stopped cheering, and said, "I should have been the one to do this."

Courage gave a look of disappointment to Eustace and nodded in agreement.

The demon laughed at Eustace and said, "Call that an incantation?"

So Eustace decided to try again and said, "Hulabaloo and howdy doo."

The demon put a hand to it's ear and said, "Speak up! Won't hear you in the balcony."

Eustace, getting fed up, shook his head clear and said, "Musty prawns and Timbuktu."

However he was interrupted when a giant tongue came out of the demons mouth and began licking Eustace all over his face, while he continued the incantation weakly.

The demon withdrew it's tongue and said, "Face it sonny, you're a failure!"

Both Courage and Avery shook their heads in disappointment. They both knew that this was going to go so far south, despite Courage's original optimism.

Eustace wasn't completely discouraged as he said, "Come on, give me a break. I can do it."

The demon beckoned Eustace closer to give him a tip and, like a fool, Eustace did so. Only to receive a ton of slimy vomit projected all over him. The demon wiped it's mouth clean after that.

Both Avery and Courage were done watching this as they went off in separate directions. Avery had given her uncle a chance and he had failed to do the job properly. So as Courage ran off, Avery climbed back up to her room and ran for her closet.

"If you want something done right, better do it yourself," she said as she pulled her nightgown out of the closet.

* * *

Back down in the bedroom, the demon laughed at the memory of what it had just done to Eustace and had savored the look of horror on Eustace's face as the farmer had run out of the room after having been puked on. It began to lie back down on the bed, when the door flew open and Avery stepped into the room, dressed in her nightgown and glaring daggers at the demon.

The demon was unfazed and said, "Hello again dollface. You are looking good in the that outfit. Very good."

Avery cringed at the demon's attempt at flirting and then walked back over to the bed and just continued her glare.

"You shouldn't have messed with my heart like that," she said, still not believing she was going to do this and began.

"Hulabaloo and howdy doo. Musty prawns and Timbuktu. Yeltzy by and hippity poo. Kick em in the dish pan hoo hoo hoo."

After she finished that embarrassing incantation, she saw that nothing had happened. Avery's glare suddenly began to melt into a look of sorrow and disappointment as the incantation hadn't worked. She looked down as the demon began to laugh at her expense.

But those laughs suddenly turned to gasps and a loud groan emanated from the demon.

Right as Avery began to smile again, Courage came running into the room, also dressed in one of Muriel's nightgowns and just stood there and watched in amazement. He looked back at Avery, who merely gave him a thumbs up. They watched as a green mist came out of Muriel's nose and floated up into the air. As it floated about, they saw Muriel's hair and skin turn back to normal as she passed out on the bed. Both began to sigh in relief when the mist turned it's attention away from Muriel and then towards Avery.

It rushed for the poor girl, but as it reached for her, something pushed it away from her. It tried for her again, but was pushed back once more. With each attempt it made, a dome appeared around her and no matter what it did, the mist could not get through to her.

It was here that the bedroom door flew open again and in stepped Eustace, wearing a HAZMAT suit as he approached the bed.

With more confidence in his voice this time, Eustace restarted the incantation and said, "Hulabaloo and howdy doo. Musty prawns and Tim-"

He was cutoff as the mist turned away from Avery and then towards Eustace. Phasing through the faceplate of Eustace's helmet, it invaded his body through his nose and Eustace let out some shuddering gasps. By the time he looked up, the demon had taken full control of his body and turned to them with a hiss. It turned back to Muriel and began climbing onto the bed with an evil laugh. Muriel began waking up and lifted her head to see a possessed Eustace crawling onto the bed and towards her with death in it's eyes.

Muriel screamed at the sight and just as Eustace stood over her, ready to finish it's deed, it felt a sharp pain on it's rear. It looked back to see Courage, biting into his rear and tried to shake him off. With a few seconds to breathe, Muriel grabbed her rolling pin and struck the demon so hard on the head that it broke through the top of the helmet and knocked him out good.

With the demon now out cold, Avery and Courage grabbed the bottom of the mattress and the both of them rolled the demon up tight with it. They even went as far as wrapping a chain around the mattress and locking it, sealing the demon inside.

With the demon now contained, Muriel wrapped her arms around Courage and Avery in gratitude.

* * *

Back downstairs, Muriel called back to the people that had brought them the mattress. There was no way they were keeping the thing in the house after everything that had just happened.

When they answered, Muriel wasted no time in saying, "We are NOT satisfied at all. Take your special mattress back."

And with that, she hung up the phone with a slam.

Shortly after that, the rats that had delivered the mattress to the residence returned and took it back with them while the demon possessed Eustace was still wrapped up in it. The sales rats took off with the mattress in tow, but the purple one decided to look back and hiss at them one last time... and then he was conked on the head with a rock, courtesy of Avery. The hit to the head, knocked the rat to the ground and he was quickly run over with the wheel of their wagon and was rolled over by it over and over and over again.

* * *

That night, the rest of the family decided to spend the evening lying in the living room with the TV on. Avery had even managed to pull out a bedroll for her to sleep on and with some pillows and a blanket from the closet.

"Now, isn't this cozy?" Muriel asked as Courage lied on top of her.

Courage nodded and lied his head down to go to sleep. Avery couldn't help but smile at the little dog as he went to sleep. She rolled over and continued to smile... that is until the memories of the demon's little trick to her returned and that sorrow, grief and anger began to return to her.

How dare that creature mess with her heart and imitate her mother and then mock her for it? Tears began to slide from her eyes as she covered her head with her blanket. Her eyes fell on her bracelet and the tears just built up more and more.

"If you could bring someone back, I already know who I want," she said and silently cried herself to sleep.

* * *

**Well that does it for Demon in the Mattress. Next episode is Freaky Fred and I'm sorry to say, it's going to be a shorter chapter. Sorry, but there's not much I can think of do with that episode. **

**I want to thank BrookeWorm3 for some ideas she helped me with in this chapter.**

**And please folks, please stop asking to have nasty things happen to Avery in this story. The things we see in the show is the worst that is going to happen. **


	10. Freaky Fred

**So I wasn't sure whether or not I should do this episode, because I had no idea how I could add Avery into the episode and i had zero intention of her becoming Fred's victim in this episode. But since it's an iconic episode, I knew it couldn't be ignored so I mainly made it about Avery reacting to the events of the episode. Sorry if it sucks, but this was all I could think of.**

* * *

Avery coughed as she dusted off one of the shelves in her aunt's bedroom. Despite it being lived in quite frequently, the room was uncharacteristically dusty in some parts of it. Her aunt in the meantime was smoothing out the sheets on her bed.

They had been cleaning up the house all day and for the later parts of the previous evening. The only time her aunt went on a cleaning spree like this was when they were expecting company to come over. It wasn't unheard of, but she had yet to tell Avery who was coming over for a visit.

"Hey Aunt Muriel, is someone coming to visit? We normally go on a cleaning spree like this when someone is coming to visit us," Avery asked simply.

Muriel looked at her and said, "Didn't I tell you?"

Avery shook her head and Muriel said, "My fault I guess. The call came last minute yesterday. Your cousin Fred has a few days free and wanted to come and visit."

Avery gave her aunt a confused look and said, "Fred? Who's Fred?"

Muriel frowned slightly and said, "You don't remember Fred dear? Then again, the last time you two saw each other you were just wee little ones. Back when you liked playing with girl things. You two played with dolls together one time. Don't you remember?"

Avery took a second to look through her memories. It had been years since she recalled having a family member named Fred. But the more she thought about it, the more some memories began to return to her. And soon, something clicked inside her mind. However when it did, it clicked hard.

* * *

Avery had just been a little girl of five years then and that year was the year that her parents had been hosting the family reunion at their home in Florida. She had snuck away from the family for a bit so that she could be alone in her room with a couple of dolls that she had had. She was so focused on them that she didn't even notice the tall lanky eight year old boy sneaking up behind her. Shaggy blond hair adorned the top of his head and a wide smile of crooked teeth hung in his mouth. He stood right behind her and tapped on the top of her head.

Avery froze and turned around, only to see her cousin Fred standing right behind her.

"Uh... h-hi Fred," little Avery said, creeped out by her cousin's creepy smile.

Fred continued to smile and in a slightly high pitched voice politely said, "Hi Avery. Your mom said you were in here and I wanted to see your room. That's a nice dolly you have."

Avery clutched the doll closer to her and said, "T-t-thanks. Can you leave me alone please? I just want to be left alone right now."

Fred kept staring at the doll and said, "In a minute. I think she could use a trim. Too much hair is not good for you."

Avery clutched the doll closer and said, "No she doesn't, she's a doll. Please get out!"

"I won't take much off," Fred said and pulled a pair of scissors out from his pocket and snipped them a few times in the air. "I think you and the other dolls might need one too."

With that, he grabbed the arm of the doll and pulled on it. Despite Avery holding the doll tight, Fred was easily able to pull it from her grasp and hold it up above her.

"Don't! Stop!" Avery cried out as Fred brought the scissors closer to the doll's hair as his smile grew even more.

"MOM!" Avery screamed.

* * *

Avery stood in front of her aunt with a blank look in her eyes and said, "Yes, now I remember Fred. I also remember my dolls, I miss my dolls."

She had never asked for new dolls, fearing that Fred might return for them and cut their hair as well.

Muriel smiled and said, "Well isn't that lovely then? I can't wait for that wee lad Fred to arrive. You two have a lot of catching up to do."

'I guess someone has to,' Avery thought to herself with more bitter thoughts clouding in her mind.

The bracelet remained stoic as it sensed her anger.

In the meantime, Eustace was out in the hall, installing a lock on the bathroom door. Courage was handing him various tools so that Eustace could work on installing it on the door. He was not looking forward to Fred's visit either. He had met the young man several times before and was NOT looking forward to his visit at all. So much so that he was setting up several precautions for his visit, in case the young man went mad during his visit.

Avery stepped out into the hall as Eustace was doing this and muttering something about not wanting the "freak" to set foot in the house. He even quietly muttered something about a previous incident that he was trying to forget.

She walked up to him and said, "You've seen Fred? Tell me this, is he just as bad as the time he ruined my dolls or is he worse?"

Eustace shook his head and said, "He's worse now. Way worse."

Eustace made a glance at Courage, who was already shivering in fright and decided that now would be a golden opportunity to scare him.

"The freak's a barber, a FREAKY barber with his own freaky barbershop where freaky things happen. Freaky barber things," Eustace said in an eerie manner to the both of them.

Courage began to whimper and shake, even as Avery patted the top of his head in comfort. He could feel her hand beginning to shake as well.

"I think that's enough Uncle Eustace," Avery said with fear creeping into her voice too.

Eustace sensed the fear in her voice and said, "Just thought I should properly warn ya about. Which reminds me, you may want to make sure you keep a hat on your head Avery, even when you sleep. Last thing I need is to see is all of your hair being snipped off by that freak."

Avery nodded, ran a hand through her hair and said, "I think I understand."

In the month that she had lived there, Avery hadn't yet gotten her hair trimmed and as a result it was now a little longer than she had normally kept it at. But she didn't mind it and thought that a new look for herself wouldn't hurt. But she had no intention of losing it all if he was still as crazy as he was when they were little kids.

A moment later, the sound of their doorbell rang out. Avery looked towards the stairs and then went to the window that overlooked the front yard of the house. Sure enough as she reached it, she saw a bus driving away at a fast speed like it was trying to get away from something. From what? Well she had a few ideas on what, but none of them good.

Her aunt passed her to go down the stairs and Courage just sat on the steps, shivering and gulping in fear. The doorbell rang again as Muriel approached the door, Courage and Avery keeping their eyes glued on the door as the bell rang a couple more times. And before long, Muriel answered.

Muriel smiled as she opened the door and said, "Ah Fred, my dear nephew. What brings you to our cozy corner of the world?"

Standing at the doorway was the same tall lanky figure from Avery's memory. His hair was no longer shaggy, but still had a crazed look to it and eyes so green that looked like they were peering into her soul. The wide smile was still plastered on his face. It wasn't until he spoke that she saw the familiar crooked teeth adorned his mouth.

"Holiday," Fred answered simply.

Avery looked at Courage and said, "Yeah I think I'm going to go get that hat now."

* * *

A little while later, Muriel and Fred were sitting together in the living room just chatting casually as Fred sat on a couch that they had pulled out earlier that day, a leather case sitting on his lap. Avery came down a few minutes later, wearing a baseball cap that was hiding her hair from Fred's field of view.

Muriel saw her and said, "Oh Avery, come see your cousin. It's been so long since the two of you have seen each other."

'Not long enough,' Avery thought as she froze on the spot.

Not wanting to look disrespectful in front of her aunt, Avery walked over to the couch where Fred sat.

"Hey," she said as she sat down next to him.

Fred gave her a side glance and said, "Hello."

Avery couldn't help but shiver at the sound of his voice. Muriel frowned at the sight of Avery wearing the baseball cap, but didn't want to chastise her in front of a guest so decided to leave it be for now. Instead, she turned her head to Courage who was still sitting up on the stairs.

Her smile returned and said, "Courage, come and meet Fred."

From here, Avery looked over to see Courage still sitting there, but also turned her head to see Fred starting to cast a glance at the little dog. She could hear Courage whine from as Fred looked in his direction. Even as he came down the stairs and sat in between them, she could feel his fear and she couldn't blame him. She was just glad that it wasn't another creepy intruder sitting with them. Just a weird family member and every family had at least one of those.

A short time later, Eustace came down the stairs and was walking rather quickly. Not even bothering to look in their direction.

"Going to go to the hardware store and get the you know... to fix the bathroom door," he said as he walked to the door. "Just don't try shutting it, because you won't be able to get it open."

But before he could go out, Muriel called him over.

"Eusatce, our guest is here. Come say hello to Fred," Muriel called as Fred turned his attention towards Eustace.

Eustace stared back and took a moment. He then reluctantly walked back over to them and took a seat in his armchair, quietly calling Fred a freak in the process. Neither Fred nor Muriel noticed his "freak" comment or they had just ignored it. Courage continued to shiver as he sat next to the crazed barber, Avery gently stroking the top of his head the entire time. But out of nowhere, he jumped up and tried waving to Muriel about something. What it was? She couldn't guess.

"You okay boy?" Avery asked.

But Muriel waved Courage down, so he had no choice but to sit back down.

Muriel looked back to Fred and said, "You must be exhausted Fred dear. Would you like to freshen up?"

Fred continued to smile, rubbed his chin and said, "Yes, been quite a trip it has."

Muriel turned to Courage and said, "Show Fred the bathroom please Courage."

But Courage wanted nothing to do with showing Fred the bathroom and shook his head furiously. This resulted in Muriel chastising Courage and him finally agreeing to do it by following Fred up.

After Fred went up the stairs, Eustace stood up from the couch to leave for the hardware store, but was stopped when Muriel asked him to take some towels up to Fred, which he did reluctantly. And so Avery was left alone with her aunt in the living room.

"So why are you wearing the hat?" Muriel asked.

Avery could feel herself freeze, but remained calm and said, "Trying something different?"

Muriel frowned and said, "I wish you wouldn't wear it in the house. Especially since you're uncle wears his in the house all the time."

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard a clatter from upstairs as a door slammed shut and this was followed by the sound of Courage screaming in horror. Both Muriel and Avery went up the stairs at the sound of Courage's screams and found Eustace with his ear pressed to the bathroom door and was laughing and smiling as Courage scratched at the door.

Muriel looked at Eustace and said, "I heard the door slammed."

Eustace pointed at the door and merely said, "The door slammed."

Avery could hear the sound of Courage struggling with the door knob on the other side, desperately trying to pull the door open. Avery tried to open it on her side as well, but couldn't even get the knob to turn. Moreover, the lock that Eustace had installed was jammed shut as well so even if she could turn the knob, it wasn't going to open. The door was not going to open without anyone else's assistance.

Eustace shrugged and said, "Well I better get," as he walked out of the house.

Muriel put her hand against the door and said, "Now don't you boys worry, Eustace will be back soon to get the door open."

Avery put her hand to the door and said, "And please don't hurt each other."

Avery went to the window and looked out to see Eustace driving away rather quickly.

Avery frowned and said quietly to herself, "He's not coming back, is he?"

She could already figure out the answer as she could hear Courage whimper and whine on the other side of the door.

* * *

A couple of hours passed and Avery was getting more and more concerned as time went on. Eustace hadn't come back yet and Courage's cries had become full blown screams. Worse yet is that she kept hearing the sound of Fred's electric clipper running and constantly heard Courage's screams accompany them. She wanted nothing more than to break down the door to get in there, but she wasn't strong enough to do that. Moreover, she had tried to get the bracelet to help her, but it wouldn't even stir for her.

She couldn't stand to hear the sound of Courage's cries of fear, but knew that there was nothing that she could do. So she just sat by the door and waited, covering her ears with her hands, thinking that he'll need some comforting when this whole thing was over.

Muriel came upstairs with a plate full of pancakes and knocked at the door.

"Is everything alright in there?" Muriel asked.

Courage let out a scream and began clawing at the floor under the door for salvation. But Muriel merely assumed that he was eager for the pancakes and set the plate on the floor for Courage to grab.

Muriel dusted her hands off and said, "Wonderful. Eustace should be back any minute now."

Avery looked at her aunt and said, "Aunt Muriel, it's been two hours now. I don't think he's coming back any time soon."

Muriel waved her off and said, "Nonsense dear. You know how your uncle is it when it comes to buying tools. They have to be the right one or it's all wrong for him."

"I hope you're right. It sounds like trouble is going on in there," Avery said worriedly as Courage screamed again.

Muriel shook her head and said, "Fred's just giving Courage a little trim, he was due for one anyway. Fred's just trying to be helpful is all and Courage is probably just being fussy."

"For two hours?" Avery asked, almost angrily.

Muriel laughed and said, "He's just enthusiastic about his work. After all if you love your job as much as he does, you're not really working are you?"

Avery couldn't help but frown at her aunt's naive nature.

* * *

Later, Muriel had the TV upstairs and was calmly watching it, still being optimistic about Eustace returning soon. But it was clear that she was getting more and more impatient at her husband's tardiness. All the while, Avery was nervously waiting for something, anything to come her way to help her get to Courage.

Her wait however came to end when she heard the sound of police sirens approaching the house. Before long, they pulled up to the house and Avery ran to the window to see. Sure enough, cop cars were surrounding the house and the cops ran out and a moment later, the lights in the house went out as the power was suddenly cut. In through the front door and up the stairs came two burly men in powder blue jumpsuits, carrying an orange tarp between them.

One of them looked at Avery and asked, "Is there a crazy barber in the house ma'am?"

Avery merely pointed at the bathroom door and the two men went over and bashed the door down with little effort. They came out a moment later with Fred wrapped up in the tarp, still smiling with his creepy stare.

Muriel at first was alarmed, but was calmed when Fred said, "It's quite alright Aunt Muriel, these men have just come to take me home. Think of it as an emergency that requires me being where I belong."

"Oh, well I hope everything is okay," Muriel said, slightly alarmed.

Fred continued to smile and said, "Oh I'm sure it will be. Farewell Aunt Muriel."

As he was pulled past Avery, he looked at her and said, "Oh and cousin Avery, it was good to see you again as well. Try not to wait twenty years to see me once more. I'd love to play dolls with you again."

Avery said nothing as he was pulled past her and out the door. She went to the bathroom and was horrified to find Courage sitting on top the toilet, shaved down to his bare skin except for his tail.

"Courage? Are you okay boy?" she asked.

Courage merely laughed his nervous laugh and gave her a thumbs up. He was as fine as one could expect at least.

She sighed in relief and said, "Don't worry boy. It's just hair, it'll grow back."

A minute later, they were back on the front porch to see Fred off as he was being taken away by men and loaded into a padded ambulance. Even though she was sad to see him leave early, Muriel was just glad to have seen him during his brief visit and waved him goodbye. Avery decided to join in, just to keep from being chastised again. She made sure to lightly scratch Courage on top of his head.

As the ambulance drove away, Muriel lowered her arm and said, "What a lovely visit. Too bad Eustace didn't get to say goodbye."

"Yeah, poor Eustace," Avery said sarcastically without Muriel picking up on it.

'I'm gonna strangle him when he gets back,' Avery thought angrily.

As the ambulance drove out of sight, Muriel went back into the house and Courage followed suit. He looked back to Avery to see if she was coming in as well.

She noticed and said, "No, you go ahead boy. I'm going to wait right here for Uncle Eustace. There are some things that I need to discuss with him. Namely about him leaving YOU alone with a relative who has an obsession with shaving hair."

The bracelet began to pulsate as well. Courage merely gulped and went back into the house, leaving her sitting on the porch.

* * *

**So that's it. Sorry for the abrupt ending, but it's the best I could do with what I had. I promise that the next episode should be better as I think it's another one of season one's scariest episodes. Not just terrifying, but very suspenseful.**

**See you all in... Night of the Weremole.**

**Also I might bring Fred back for an original chapter later on. I just really want to bring him back and not leave him as a one off character. **


	11. Night of the Weremole

**I am really sorry for the wait guys. Thing is that last month I took on another job to work during the week while hours at my regular job are limited. And now I have some added duties at my regular job. So in a way, I'm kinda of working three jobs right now, I'm even in the middle of a two week stretch with only a single day off during this time with late nights going on as well.**

**But now that things are slowing down this next week, I'm taking every chance that I can right now to get some writing done.**

* * *

Avery groaned as she tried to strum on her guitar. The stress over the several incidents that she had encountered over the past couple of weeks in Nowhere had prevented her from spending any regular time to practice her guitar. And now she felt like she was forgetting some important steps when it came to playing her instrument. She'd forget to tune it before practice or pluck the wrong strings at the wrong time.

"This is what happens when your life distracts you," she muttered to herself.

She plucked the strings a few more times and accidentally hit the wrong notes again.

"Dammit!" she uttered and set her guitar down on the bed and buried her face in her hands as she groaned in frustration. "I'm getting rusty. I need to refocus."

She looked at her bracelet and said, "Can't you help me here? Can you at least help me relax or make me more musically talented."

The bracelet remained still, much to Avery's annoyance.

"Figures that you only work when it's convenient."

She picked her guitar back up and prepared to practice once again, that is until she heard the sound of a pained scream from outside. Jumping up from her bed, she ran over to the window and looked out onto the property. It was already dark out that night with a nearly full moon out, so she could see out into the yard perfectly fine. She saw her aunt Muriel out by her garden, clutching one of her hands.

Her aunt was very prideful of her vegetable garden and would tend to it every chance that she got, even at night. With there being a nearly full moon out, it was the perfect kind of night to tend to it. But right now might not have been a good time to do it as Avery could now see a little bit of blood dripping from her aunt's hand.

"Oh dear," Avery muttered and ran down from her room and towards the kitchen.

Muriel was already stepping into the house when Avery arrived at the kitchen, clutching her hand tightly as Courage let out some whines and a howl as some blood dripped onto the kitchen floor. Eustace however looked more annoyed than anything else.

"Muriel, what did you do to yourself?" Eustace demanded.

Muriel groaned from the pain and said, "I was tending to my garden when a wee little rabbit came hopping up to me and I wanted to give him a carrot. But I guess he didn't want one since he bit me."

Avery got a better look at Muriel's quickly swelling hand and saw the bite mark upon it. The bite looked a little big to have been made by a rabbit, like something more vicious had gotten a hold of her. All that she hoped is that whatever had bitten her aunt wasn't rabid. That would be a worst case scenario.

Eustace groaned and said, "So much for a quiet night at home. Everyone in the truck, we're going to the doctor."

Everyone complied and followed Eustace out to the truck, making sure to bind Muriel's bite wound before leaving the house.

* * *

It didn't take them long to get to the doctor's office and even less time than that to get in and see him. To everyone's surprise, even the doctor's, Muriel's hand had stopped bleeding by the time they got into the office. The one other thing that Avery was surprised by was the fact that the doctor was not alarmed by the fact that Muriel's hand was now enormous from all the swelling. There was no way that was normal and the doctor was incredibly nonchalant about it.

The doctor scratched his chin and said, "Hmm, there's nothing to worry about now that the bleeding has stopped. Nothing at all. Nothing at all."

Courage whined and Avery patted the top of his head to help him stay calm.

"The swelling is going to go down, to go down. Just keep soaking it, nothing to worry about. Just keep soaking it," the doctor stated.

"Hey doc, with all due respect I think there might be something worse going on. When was the last time you saw a rabbit bite inflate someone's hand to the size of a basketball? I think this is worth an extra look," Avery said and Courage nodded and whined in agreement.

Muriel patted Courage on the head with her swollen hand and said, "Now now you two, I don't want there to be any trouble."

"Then you shouldn't have gotten bit," Eustace said angrily and yanked on Courage's leash, yanked it hard and making Courage choke. "Come on stupid dog."

"HEY!" Avery cried out and pried the leash out of Eustace's grip and let Courage walk along next to her, much to Eustace's anger.

Muriel got down from the doctor's bed and said, "Thank you doctor," as she walked out.

The doctor, standing all by himself, watched them leave and said once more, "Just keep soaking it."

* * *

The very next day passed without incident. Muriel soaked her hand all day and every now then she'd check to make sure that it was getting smaller and smaller. Sure enough it was, and before the day got long, the sun was going down and the now full moon was coming up.

Avery had taken care of dinner that night so that Muriel could focus on soaking her hand. Once everyone was finished with dinner and dishes were done, Avery, Courage and Eustace retired to the living room to watch TV. Of course, Avery kept looking out at the moon which looked like it was taking on a very unnatural color. And despite the full moon, she couldn't help but feel that the yard looked darker than ever. Courage must have had a similar feeling as he too looked stressed and kept glancing at the kitchen door.

"Muriel! You're missing your favorite show," Eustace called out that broke Avery from her focus with the moon. "MURIEL!"

"Okay Uncle Eustace, you don't need to shout. She might still be soaking her hand," Avery said.

Eustace growled, turned to Courage and said, "You go find her stupid dog."

Courage whined and complied with Eustace's demand as he made his way to the kitchen.

Avery looked at Eustace and said, "Why are you getting so angry all of a sudden?"

Eustace didn't answer and just turned back to the show. Avery decided to bite the bullet and sat down next to him and watched the show as well. But her newfound focus was broken when she heard the sound of Courage screaming in the kitchen.

Both she and Eustace were groaning and Avery was even saying, "What scared him this time?" But her aggravation turned to concern when his scream suddenly stopped and was replaced with the sound of a thud. She looked back at the kitchen door and couldn't hear any sign of Courage coming back or even moving. She looked back to Eustace who kept focusing on the TV and didn't even look away. Avery let out a sigh and walked over to the kitchen door.

She tried to open the door, only to find that something was blocking it. She forced it open a little more, only to find Courage was lying in front of it and was clutching his chest. She took a look inside the kitchen and saw no sign of her aunt anywhere. So she looked back down at Courage and nudged him with her foot.

"Courage? You okay boy?" she asked softly and nudged him again. "Courage?"

* * *

It only took a few minutes for an ambulance to arrive and load Courage into the back. Since Muriel was still missing and Eustace just didn't notice or even care for that matter, Avery chose to ride along with them to the hospital. The same one that they had been to the night before for Muriel's bite. By some weird circumstance, Courage was even in the care of the same doctor from the night before and Avery couldn't help but think that this could potentially end in disaster.

But Courage recovered from his heart attack quickly and was more than grateful than ever to have Avery there with with him as he kept nestling into her grip. Almost like her presence helped calm him down. The doctor in the meantime kept looking over his clipboard and back to Courage as the heart monitor kept beeping.

"You almost bought it boy. What is up with that?" the doctor asked.

Avery looked back at him and said, "Something scared him tonight doc, really bad. I've seen him face multiple different horrors, but he's never freaked out this bad before. And we've encountered mutant spiders before doc. MUTANT SPIDERS! I'm sure most people would die from fright with those alone. Something terrified him tonight and my aunt is missing. You know, the patient who got bitten by something that we still don't know."

The doctor waved her off and said, "Common phobia young lady, nothing more. Common phobia, nothing more. There's nothing to worry about, there's nothing at all."

Courage however quickly jumped up from the hospital bed and grabbed the doctor, letting the heart monitor flat line as they ran off. Avery followed them close behind, leaving any nurse who would come in to ponder what was going on.

* * *

Courage didn't stop running until they were approaching the farm once again, even Avery was mystified by the little dog's endurance and was still feeling anxious from the moon's strange color and hue that the light was taking on.

They all stepped into the living room, with Courage carrying the doctor, and much to Courage's surprise, Muriel was sitting in front of the TV in her rocking chair and watching the TV. Courage set the doctor down and pointed at Muriel, babbling a bit. Out of nowhere, he made his teeth look sharp and growled horrendously as he continued to point at Muriel. Avery gulped and looked at her aunt's rocking from. She had had a feeling that something very wrong had been going on with her aunt's animal bite and usually Courage's instincts were right. So now she feared the worst and knew that her aunt was now something to fear.

The doctor approached her and said, "Excuse me ma'am, your son and his friend say that there is something wrong with you. What is up with that?"

Muriel continued sitting and watching the horror movie in front of her, just rocking in her chair as she did so. But as the doctor got closer, she turned towards him and even looked normal to all of them.

"Shh! I'm watching my favorite show," Muriel said.

Courage scratched the top of his head in confusion and even let out a confused grunt. Avery even began shaking her head. The night and worry must have gotten to the boy and even her as well. That is until her bracelet began to vibrate quickly and she noticed that as the doctor got closer to her aunt, the vibration of the bracelet intensified.

The doctor continued standing there and said, "Now, I want you to open your mouth and say ahh."

That was when the bracelet let out a jolt so hard, it actually shot some pain through Avery's arm.

"Ah! Wait doc, don't!" Avery called out, but it was too late.

Muriel's mouth opened wide, revealing many sharp teeth as she then chomped down on the doctor, leaving his lower half hanging out of her mouth. She chewed for a second and then began shaking the doctor around like a rag doll. Both Courage and Avery screamed and clasped onto one another as the grisly scene continued, even seeing a little bit of blood trickle down from the doctor's coat. This went on for a few more seconds until Muriel released him and the doctor scurried away from her as she let out a vicious roar. Both Courage and Avery watched in horror as Muriel's hands morphed into something more inhuman. She continued to roar as she dug down into the floor and vanished from sight.

Courage gasped and ran over to the hole as Avery turned to the doctor.

"You okay doctor?" she asked.

The doctor wiped his forehead and said, "Guess she doesn't like check ups. Some patients are stubborn, some are stubborn."

'He's fine,' Avery thought and another roar ripped her from her thoughts.

She looked over to the hole in the floor to see that her aunt had returned and now she looked far more animalistic than before. Her white hair had even turned red. She stood in the hole and roared at Courage who then suddenly jumped so high that he actually jumped through the ceiling.

It then looked over at Avery and snarled at her. Avery gulped and could feel her fear grip at her heart and she squeezed her eyes shut, too scared to even move from her spot. But to her amazement the beast turned away from her and looked back up at the hole in the ceiling and jumped up into it. This was quickly followed by more screams from upstairs, no doubt her uncle Eustace and Courage were screaming at the same time. The creature then fell back down from the ceiling and back into the hole from before and out of sight.

Avery blinked and gasped from the shock, but then heard the doctor groan from beside her and she looked down at the bite marks around his waist.

She looked at him and said, "Doctor, we should get you back to the hospital. You're bleeding."

The doctor waved her off and said, "It's just a patient having a tantrum. Some patients are stubborn. But I must say, that is the worst case of chicken pox I have ever seen."

Suddenly the floor right at Avery's feet burst open as Muriel surged out of it once more. She roared at Avery, but turned her attention back to the doctor as she chomped him once more and then dragged him back into the hole from which she had come. All she could hear was the sound of the doctor's pained cries.

Avery shrieked at the sight and said, "Dammit! Stop doing that!"

She lied near the hole, panting from the fear and was broken out of her state by the sound of footsteps approaching. She looked up to see her uncle in his towel and Courage pointing at the hole with a babble. Avery used the corner wall of the door frame to pull herself back up to her feet. Courage continued to babble as Eustace glanced at the hole is disdain.

"Mice?! Mice in my house? Gonna get me a mallet," Eusatce said and began walking away.

Courage babbled quickly, getting Eustace's attention once again. The dog quickly took out a pencil and drew a picture of a mouse and crossed it out. Next to it, he drew a picture of Muriel and drew a circle around her, pointing at the picture with a whine.

Eustace let out a scowl and said, "Where did I put my mallet?"

"Uncle Eustace, he's saying that it's not a mouse. You think mice can make a hole that big?" Avery said and pointed at the hole.

Eustace's scowled even more and said, "Rats? Those are even worse. Where's my mallet?"

He continued up the stairs and out of sight.

Courage looked up at Avery and knew that there'd be no convincing Eustace that the "rat" was actually Muriel. So if they couldn't harm her, they'd have to fix her. To find out what was going on, they'd have to consult someone that Avery really didn't want to to talk to. But if they wanted to fix her aunt, they had no choice.

* * *

Back up in the attic, Courage was quickly typing away on the computer. Avery couldn't see everything that he was typing but could see that it was something about Muriel, a big mole and eating people. He then pounded the enter button multiple times to get a response.

'A big mole? Guess that explains the digging holes thing,' Avery thought.

The computer chuckled and said, "You are such a lousy typist."

This earned him a glare from both Courage and Avery, with Courage babbling angrily at the computer.

"You're welcome. What you've got here is a weremole," the computer said as it flashed the word 'weremole' in red.

Courage babbled some more at the computer.

"Weremole? I've never heard of that before," Avery said.

"They're not native to the south young lady. They come out in the full moon and they've got a taste for rabbits and people," the computer said as it displayed a weremole on screen holding up a rabbit and a person.

Avery gulped and pulled herself closer to Courage as he gasped at the sight of the demonic looking mole. She even scanned the floor, keeping her wits about her.

"And if you are bitten by a weremole, you become one yourself," the computer explained and displayed the equation on screen.

Courage howled and Avery said, "So what do we do about this?"

"If I were you, I'd get a big mallet and-" the computer began but was cut off by Courage babbling and typing away again. Avery was able to catch enough to see that it was about a cure.

Surely there had to be a way to reverse this.

"Oh... that's easy. Just eat a little hair of the mole that bit you," the computer said.

Both of their mouth's just dropped agape. The cure honestly sounded more dangerous than the condition itself. But if they wanted to fix Muriel, this was likely the only way to do it. They both turned away from the computer and began to leave the room.

But they paused as they heard the computer mockingly say, "Just don't get bitten."

Courage whined and Avery glared before the computer said, "Just kidding. Dogs aren't affected by weremole bites. But I'd be cautious if I were you young lady."

They both left the room. That last part was at least some good information to have.

Avery looked at Courage and said, "If aunt Muriel was bitten last night, then the mole that bit her might still be around here. One of us has to go out and find it."

Courage babbled something and pulled out a rabbit costume from the nearby closet.

"You can get out there and get the hair? Are you sure you want to do that?" Avery asked.

Courage nodded, but still looked frightened at the thought of it. But since he wasn't able to be infected by a weremole bite, it was less risky for him to be the one to go out there rather than her.

Avery sighed and said, "Okay, you go out there and get the hair. I'll stay here to make sure that Uncle Eustace doesn't hurt aunt Muriel. Sound good?"

Courage nodded in agreement and slipped the rabbit costume on. He gave one last look at Avery and made his way outside. So now Avery just had to find her uncle and make sure he didn't do anything stupid to Muriel... or himself.

* * *

Outside Courage shivered in fear and began hopping around the ground, pretending to be a rabbit. He was sure that the thing that bit Muriel still had to be digging around here somewhere. He just hoped that he could this quickly before he or anyone else got hurt.

Oh the things he'd do for love.

* * *

Back inside, Eustace was digging around under the bed in his bedroom, muttering to himself as scoured around. Avery stepped in to see him ranting to himself.

"Where is that darn mallet? Can't bop a mouse without me mallet," he said.

"Uncle Eustace, please just listen to me. It's not a mouse that is tearing apart the house," Avery tired to explain.

"Oh that's right, it's a rat. Rats are worse. Lousy disease spreading vermin," Eustace said and then began digging underneath his bed again, pulling out various objects.

There was a loud SNAP from under the bed and Eustace pulled his arm out with a scream, revealing that he had gotten it caught in a giant mouse trap that had been stashed underneath the bed for some reason. Avery couldn't help but chuckle at his misfortune.

"That's not me mallet!" Eustace yelled as he shook the device off of his arm.

He dug under the bed once more, this time pulling out a large wooden hammer. Avery's heart sunk at the sight of it.

"Ah! Me mallet," Eustace said excitedly.

Before Avery could get a word in edgewise, a section the floor in front of Eustace broke open and Muriel's animalistic head popped out with a roar. Eustace screamed and tried bringing the mallet down onto Muriel's head. But she retreated too quickly for him to gain a successful hit.

"Okay Uncle Eustace, I think it's time we got out of the house," Avery said but was ignored.

Then the floor right in front of her burst open as Muriel reappeared and tried to bite into her foot, Avery shrieked but was too slow to move her foot back. It was then that she noticed that her aunt retreated as something had pushed her back from Avery and back into the hole. Avery watched it bewilderment, until she felt the bracelet humming on her wrist and it took on a dim glow.

She looked at the bracelet and then back at her uncle and then back to the bracelet. Was the trinket giving her a defense between her and her aunt? An idea quickly formed in her head and she dashed over to her uncle.

"Uncle Eustace, stay behind me. It won't be able to get through me," she said.

That's when Muriel popped out of the floor behind Eustace and tried biting at him again. He dodged the bite and tried bringing the mallet down on her again. Muriel pulled back under the floor once more.

Avery began to sweat drop and said, "Well so much for that plan."

She could hear Courage screaming from outside and she looked out the window just in time to see a weremole similar to the one from the computer attacking Courage and just shaking him around in the costume. All the while, Muriel kept popping her head up from under the floor and even out of the bed. Each time she popped up, Eustace tried in vain to bring his mallet down on top of her. Each time though, she'd retreat back into the hole. Every now and then, Avery was able to get between Muriel and Eustace, but Muriel would just retreat and pop up somewhere else.

All the while, Courage was outside being shaken and slammed around by the weremole, until he finally he was torn loose from the costume and thrown away from the shredded outfit. Amazingly, the weremole wasn't even interested in Courage as it just kept tearing at the costume. It took a few tries, but Courage was finally able to muster up the will to get close to the weremole and pluck a single strand of fur from the weremole's body. It never even noticed Courage's presence and the dog ran off with a shrug.

Back in the bedroom, Muriel was no longer popping up out of the floor and was instead chewing through the floor as she made her way towards Eustace. Avery tried getting in Muriel's way, but Muriel was able to just duck under her and popped out on the other side of her. Avery tried this a couple more times, but the result was always the same.

Just as Muriel was about to chomp down on Eustace, Courage hopped in through the window and onto Eustace's head. He was able to deposit the single strand of fur in her mouth. Muriel felt the hair enter her throat and began grasping her throat like she was choking, making horrific gagging sounds and then fainted back into the hole. And then all was silent.

Eustace broke the silence by turning to Courage and angrily said, "What'd you do? I almost had it. You ruin everything!"

"Uncle Eustace, he just saved you from being attacked," Avery argued, knowing it was futile regardless.

Eustace grumbled and said, "He stopped me killing that rat. Stupid dog!"

They all left the room and crept down the stairs into the living room. The TV was still playing the movie from earlier and they could see that Muriel was sitting in the chair again, watching the movie. But they could not see her face for a true conclusion.

So the three of them snuck up behind her, the squeaks of her rocking chair were louder than their footsteps. Avery began to take shallow breaths as Eustace began to sweat bullet and Courage blinked rapidly. Their fears were dashed as Muriel turned towards them.

"Where have you been? You've missed the whole show," Muriel said worriedly.

Courage babbled happily and jumped right into Muriel's lap and snuggled right up to her as she began to rock the chair. Avery smiled and took the seat right next to her aunt, glad that this ordeal was now over. They could worry about the damage that was done to the house tomorrow.

But Eustace still had his mallet held high and said, "Now where'd that rat get to?"

But Muriel looked back at Eustace and said, "I swear. All of this bother over a wee rodent?"

Courage and Avery merely smiled... that is until the floor right by Eustace began to rumble and a part of the floor broke open. Right behind Eustace was the doctor, now a weremole beast as well, and Courage and Avery just watched as the doctor grabbed Eustace and pulled him under the floor as well. This was followed by the sounds of Eustace pounding around his mallet, his laughs, biting and chewing.

Courage screamed and Avery watched with her mouth hanging open and eyes wide open. But she looked outside and could see that the moon was almost all the way down with just a sliver of it showing, so this nightmare would be over shortly anyway. She turned Courage's head away from the hole and back towards the TV.

"Let's worry about this in the morning Courage. The moon's almost down so he'll be turning back soon. He has Uncle Eustace to play with for now," She said.

Courage still shivered, but knew there was no sense in worrying about this right now. So he turned back to the TV and let that be it.

* * *

**Finally back to work on this fic. I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but real life rears it's ugly head once again. At least this time it's a job and not a flooded basement. We got that fixed.**

**Next chapter will be Shirley the Medium. That one might take a little time as I have plenty planned for that chapter. **


	12. Shirley The Medium

**So... yeah. I know I'm extremely late with this chapter. I'll explain why at the end of the chapter. For right now though, please enjoy the chapter that I should have posted months ago.**

* * *

Courage was busy today. Busy digging around all over the yard, searching desperately for something he hidden away, but forgotten where. Avery had been spending a good portion of the morning just watching him go to work all around the bare yard. She had tried asking him what he was looking for, but he would just give her some gestures by waving his hand up and down over and over again while babbling about. She didn't quite understand what he meant, but had a feeling that whatever it was was important to him. So she had merely patted the top of his head and wished him the best of luck in finding it.

As she got bored watching him, she decided to head back inside and see what her aunt and uncle were up to.

Muriel was busy dusting around the living room while Eustace sat in his arm chair, reading the newspaper and doing nothing as usual. Unlike the norm however, Muriel wasn't humming or even smiling for that matter and was, instead, eyeing a picture that she had set out earlier that day. She paused her dusting session to pick up the picture and take a better look at it.

"Ah your sweet brother, Horst," she said to Eustace. "I do miss him."

Avery stood next to her aunt to get a better look at the photo. It was of an older man whom looked very similar to Eustace, only more muscular and with a more adventurous demeanor to him. With his Panama hat and holding the end of a large snake with the rest of it draped over his shoulder.

Avery looked at the photo and began to wonder if she had seen him before as he did seem familiar. She hadn't met much of her extended family, but then again the years do things to the brain as they come and go.

Eustace clearly didn't share the same fondness as Muriel did, as Eustace looked up from his paper and angrily said, "Blah blah blah! I don't!"

Muriel merely shook her head and said, "You two never got along and today is his birthday isn't it?"

That is when it clicked for Avery. She had met her other uncle once, only once in her life. She had only been five years old at the time and it had been for his birthday and retirement party as well. She remembered just how nice he had treated her. Letting her have the first piece of his cake, raising her up on his shoulder and even telling her stories about some of his adventures. She had had a great time at the party and had looked forward to meeting him again some time. Sadly, it was just a few years later that he had his accident and that was the party was the first and last time that she would ever see him. It had pained her to know that he was gone and it pained her even more to know that he and Eustace had always had a rotten relationship, even as children. She couldn't understand why and with Eustace's brother gone, she'd probably never know.

Eustace, however, cared less and less as he crumpled up his paper and said, "Who cares? Anyway, the bum died before he told me where he hid his box full of money."

"Box full of money? What box full of money?" Avery asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Your uncle Horst made a fortune off of treasure hunting and kept most of it in an iron box he had. All I know is that he left me this house and everything in it when he died, but I never could find that box and he left me no clues on where it was. So happy birthday to nobody," Eustace said as he threw the crumpled up paper away.

'Geez, how bad was their relationship?' Avery asked herself.

It was here that Courage came walking into the house from the yard, with a metal box inside of his mouth. He sat right at Eustace's feet and tried to babble something with his mouth full, but found that task to be harder than he thought.

Eustace was turned away from Courage and said, "Get away from me."

But Courage tried babbling again and even let out a whine to try to get Eustace's attention.

Eustace slammed his fist down on the arm of the chair and said, "What's the matter with you stupid dog? One little clue is all I-"

Courage grumbled a bit more with the iron box still in his mouth, until he opened his mouth wide and the box fell out of it. Unfortunately it landed right onto Eustace's foot, crushing it and making the elderly farmer scream out in pain. Even Avery had to cringe at the sound of Eustace's scream.

Eustace hopped up from his seat and angrily shook his fist at Courage and saying, "Ya stupid-"

But he stopped as soon as he looked down at the box and, very quickly, realization began to click in his head.

"That's it! That's the box I've been looking for!" Eustace said excitedly as he kneeled down to pick it up.

Even Avery felt her excitement begin to build. A box full of money? All for them? Maybe this could help her find the financial stability she's been needing. After all, she needed the money and no one in town was hiring currently. Any start would be a good one at this point for her.

Both she and Muriel pat Courage on the top of the head with Muriel calling him a good dog at the same time and wondering what was inside the box.

"I'll tell you what's in it. His money! My good for nothing brother's money!" Eustace said as he took the box into the next room and slammed it down onto the table.

He grabbed the top of the box and began to struggle, trying to open it, saying, "It's all mine!" And even began biting at the edges of the box in a desperate attempt to get it open as Muriel, Courage and Avery watched him from the doorway. He even began using his foot for extra leverage on the table. But no amount of effort would allow him to get the box open.

So he slammed it down on the table and said, "I'm getting me tools," as he walked out of the room and Muriel went to dust the box off. Avery even took a look at it and at the lock, wondering what kind of key it would take. Courage himself walked over to the box and looked into the lock with one eye.

He remained quiet as he looked inside, but after a few seconds, Courage pushed himself away from the box and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Avery watched him through the whole moment and suddenly began to pale. At this point she was well aware of Courage's instincts and how they were usually correct. If he saw something horrible in that box then, more than likely, there was something horrific inside that box. Even worse is that her uncle believed there was a ton of money in said box. Avery liked money herself and was in desperate need of it, but she knew better than to mess with other worldly entities that could be between her and it. But try explaining that to her greedy uncle, who would do anything to get whatever his greed desired. Even if there was something horrible between him and the cash.

Speaking of whom, Eustace took that opportunity to come back into the room with a wrench in hand. Courage, knowing what he was intending, stood in Eustace's way of the box and whined something that sounded like, "No!"

Eustace glared down at the dog and said, "What's the matter with you dog?"

"Uncle Eustace, you may want to let him explain it to you," Avery said, knowing that it'd be a futile effort but hoped that he'd listen to her a bit more.

Courage took this time to point at the box and then mimic what he'd been doing with the box just a minute earlier. Even morphed into a creature with a mouth full of sharp teeth. It ended with Courage getting down on his knees, pleading with Eustace and latching onto the farmer's feet. Eustace merely pushed him away from his feet.

"Uncle Eustace, was that really necessary?" Avery said.

"What? It didn't hurt him," Eustace retorted and then went to work on trying to open the lock with his wrench, but to no avail.

Avery couldn't bear to watch. Not because she was scared, but knowing that what Eustace was doing would only break the lock on the box. If he did that, then they'd never get it open. Even if they found a key for it. Even the bracelet vibrated in a way that told her that it too was pitying this old man.

With a sigh, she gathered up Courage and said, "Come on boy. This issue might sort itself out."

Courage nodded, though she could still feel his agitation and fear.

* * *

Eustace spent the entire day messing with the money box and trying to open it, but everything he did would not help him in the slightest. He eventually got too frustrated to carry on and rejoined the family in the den to fume and vent.

He sat in his armchair with his arms crossed and the lock box in his lap as he fumed and said, "I can't open it without the stinking key. Darn dead Horst, he hated me."

"Did you ever trying talking about it to him before he passed? I'm sure deep down he cared something for you. Brothers usually do," Avery said in an attempt to try to cheer him up.

Eustace sneered and said, "With Horst? Please. All he ever did was try to one up everyone around him. Always trying to be the best at everything and then they'd all laugh at me when he accomplished it."

"Sounds like it was just friendly competition to me. Maybe you just never gave him a chance to get close," she retorted.

"I gave him chance after chance and he still always treated me like a child. The only good day I ever had with him was the day he died. No longer bothered me after that," Eustace said irritably.

Avery cringed and decided to drop the subject entirely. She'd seen her uncle hate plenty of things, but his brother was one topic that clearly angered him the most. So this subject was one that was likely better off just being let go of.

Muriel rocked in her chair and said, "What a shame you and Horst never settled your troubles."

As if on cue they turned to a local station simply titled The Channeling Channel and the commercial that was airing was one that looked like it could solve all of their problems. Or in Avery and the bracelet's case (as it was pulsating now), open new ones as she recognized the face of the person in the commercial.

"The Channeling Channel," the TV said, "Will return after a word from our sponsor. Are you trying to contact the dead?"

Muriel went wide eyed as the commercial went on.

"Are you trying to reach the unreachable?" said the voice on the TV.

Eustace however went on to mock the commercial instead of paying attention to it.

"Shirley the Medium can put you in touch with the hereafter," the TV continued

Avery went a little pale as she saw the familiar chihuahua woman on the TV. The one whose advice she had unwisely ignored some time before.

"So you can live and die happily ever after," it finished.

Avery gulped as she dreaded encountering the gypsy chihuahua again. She had given a very clear warning to Avery about putting the bracelet on and had even told her to figure stuff out about the bracelet, otherwise she'd find a new permanent home inside a crystal. That was the one thing she did not want. Not only did Shirley not trust her after ignoring her advice, but in the past month or two she'd been living here, she was no closer to discovering the bracelet's secrets or how to remove it. Shirley would no doubt seal her away if she found this out.

Good thing she didn't know where they were right?

Muriel beamed at the commercial and said, "What a wonderful idea. We could hire Shirley."

'Crap!,' Avery shouted in her mind.

"I don't know about that Aunt Muriel. Remember what happened the last time we let strangers into the house?" Avery said, still remembering the incident with LeQuack.

Muriel merely shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it dear. We'll all keep an eye on her this time. Besides she seems harmless enough to me."

Avery looked away and said quietly to herself, "You're not the one who incurred her wrath when you ignored her sound advice."

Muriel looked back to Eustace and said, "Now you and your brother can lay your troubles to rest, once and for all."

Eustace, still feeling angry, kept his arms crossed and said, "Our differences are settled. He's dead and I ain't."

"Come now Eustace. Isn't there anything you want to talk to him about? It is his birthday," Muriel responded.

That's when a sly grin came to Eustace's face and he said, "Yeah, now that I think about it, there is."

He laughed as Muriel picked up the phone as enthusiastic greed overcame him. Courage suddenly gasped and Avery then knew what he was sensing.

Eusatce was going to try to get the location of the key that opens the box, the box containing something other than just money. Something that had Courage more than just spooked. Even though a lot of things scared Courage, usually when he went into these kinds of hysterics, it was incredibly serious.

Then again, she did hear about his freak out at the burger place a week earlier and that had turned out to be a complete false alarm.

Muriel began to dial and Courage began tugging at her apron to get her to stop. But Muriel didn't pick up on the message.

"Don't worry Courage dear. I'll feed you in a minute," Muriel said and Courage just grumbled to himself in response.

Avery just began to pet his forehead.

* * *

Later that night, Avery looked out the attic window to see a familiar chihuahua woman approaching the farmhouse. Even though she knew that the chihuahua wasn't coming here for her, she still didn't like the idea of Shirley knowing exactly where she lived. She could come back at any time and ambush her in the middle of her daily mundane tasks and seal her away then and there.

What was she going to do?

She had no time to decide though as within a few moments, Shirley was up on the front porch and knocking on the door. Avery took a breath and prepared herself. This was the moment of truth.

The rest of the family answered the door, but looked around for a moment as they couldn't see any sign of Shirley. That is until they looked down and saw her standing before them.

Shirley looked back up at them with a serious glance and at once said, "One thing. If you contact the dead for personal gain, there will be tragic consequences."

Avery stood between the door frame and the window and out of Shirley's view. She gulped as she heard Shirley's warning, already experienced with what happens when you ignore her warnings. And she knew that personal gain is exactly why she invited to the house this evening. She already knew that this was going to be bad.

Eustace confirmed her thoughts when he said, "Just dial my dead brother and shut up."

With that, everyone turned to go back into the house and Avery hid as best she could as Shirley walked into the house. Things seemed to go well for her when she didn't see the chihuahua turn her head in her direction. But when she paused, Avery felt some trepidation as the dog woman stood still in the living room. For but a moment, when she walked towards the doors leading to the dining room.

Avery sighed in relief, but this was short lived when Muriel called out.

"Avery dear, come join us. Wouldn't you like to say hello to your Uncle Horst?" Muriel said.

Avery sweat dropped, yet complied with her aunt's request.

"Be there in a minute," she said and ran right up to her room.

* * *

Inside the dining room, the entire family was gathered around the table with Shirley sitting before a crystal ball. Avery had her face hidden behind a hat and some sunglasses. She also made sure to wear a long sleeved blouse, to keep her wrists covered up. She doubted that it would work, but was desperate to keep Shirley from recognizing her. It seemed to work though as the psychic chihuahua never looked up in her direction.

Not even once.

Shirley sat before her crystal ball and said, "Join hands."

Everyone in the family did exactly that with Avery taking Courage's free paw after he grasped Muriel's with his other paw. Shirley closed her eyes and then opened up her mouth. The last thing Avery expected to hear was the sound of a phone ringing on the other end of a phone line. Yet that what she heard as Shirley was contacting the other side.

'Channeling spirits is bizarre,' she thought to herself.

Eustace was becoming impatient as he banged on the table and said, "You're on my payroll now. Wake up and get my brother on the line."

Avery looked to him and said, "Uncle Eustace, please be patient. Can't you see she's concentrating?"

Eustace snorted and said, "Lazy home services."

They sat there and waited, but there was no response from anyone. All they heard was the continuous ringing sound, but not the sound of anyone picking up. They all leaned in closer, eager to hear Horst answer on the other end of the line. But yet there was no answer.

Finally Shirley closed her mouth and said, "The party is not answering."

Avery sighed and shook her head as Eusatce slammed his fist down on the table and said, "He never took my calls."

Courage took the opportunity to utter something that sounded like 'yoyo' to Shirley.

She seemed to get the message and said, "I shall try."

With that, Shirley gazed deeper into the crystal ball and said, "I see, I see, I see, I SEE!"

Courage gasped in eager anticipation as Shirley got more intense with her observation.

Finally she looked up from the ball and said, "A yoyo!"

Courage squealed in delight at Shirley's answer. Avery couldn't help but smile at the little dog's outburst, his innocence being too cute for words to her.

"I see a yoyo. It is under the sofa," Shirley said as she pointed to the living room door.

Courage jumped up from his seat and dashed out into the living room. Avery looked through the cracked door and could see him as he found his prized yoyo as the dining room doors swung open and closed. She might not have been able to understand the little dog at times, but more often than not his antics spoke for themselves. For her, there was just no getting mad at him.

As Courage played with his yoyo, Shirley turned to the rest of the family and said, "Any other little requests?"

Avery and Muriel shook their heads as Eustace continued to fume.

Courage returned a moment later and retook his place between Muriel and Avery, grasping their hands like before.

Eustace growled before turning back to Shirley and saying, "Try my brother again."

Shirley did just that and the ringing sound from her mouth resumed like before. This time they received an answer almost right away. However, the person on the other end was not Eustace's brother.

"Hello? Hello?" came an older woman's voice.

Muriel went wide eyed and said, "Aunt Gertrude?"

Avery had to chuckle at that, even when her uncle facepalmed and said, "Oh for Pete's sake!"

"Muriel? Oh Muriel, how are ya?" Gertrude asked on the other side.

Muriel smiled and said, "I'm just fine, thank goodness."

Eustace was getting impatient as he tried interrupting the call by saying, "Hang up! You're tying up the line."

They ignored him though as Gertrude kept talking to Muriel asking her something about using vinegar in raspberry jam. The very thought of it was enough to make everyone else at the table gag. Vinegar was a specialty ingredient that many of the cooks on Muriel's side of the family used in many of their recipes. They swore it helped enhance the flavor and texture of certain foods, but everyone at the table had their doubts. Then again, since Muriel's cooking had won her many awards in the past it was possible that vinegar really did help in some way.

Eustace's patience ran out however as he stood up and said, "Will you two quit jabbering!" He pointed back to Shirley and said, "Now get my stinking dead brother Horst on the line!"

Shirley tried again in vain to warn Eustace by saying, "The dead should not be bothered for personal gain."

"What? Oh just do it!" Eustace said irritably.

In an act of desperation, Courage leapt onto the table and waved arms and babbled to Eustace. Even did his standard morphing by becoming a smokey phantom and then becoming a sharp toothed creature once again.

Eusatce didn't have any of it and said, "SIT DOWN YOU STUPID DOG!"

Courage did as he was told and returned to his seat.

So Shirley returned to trying to call Horst. This time after only a couple of rings, someone picked up and this time they got pay dirt.

"Hello?" came a gruff older man's voice.

Muriel smiled again and said, "Isn't this wonderful Eustace? Finally you can settle your differences."

"Yeah yeah yeah!" said stated as he dropped Muriel's hand and stood up from his seat.

Eustace picked up Shirley and shook her a bit as he said, "Where's the key to the box."

"There is nothing in the box for YOU Eustace," Horst said angrily.

Eustace's anger increased as he said, "You would say that ya cheap-"

But Horst interrupted him by urgently saying, "Bury the box Eustace and forget it ever existed."

Eustace growled as Courage once again pleaded with Eustace. But Eustace merely told Courage to get away from him and pushed him away.

"Uncle Eustace please," Avery started.

"QUIET!" Eustace snapped.

"Listen to the family Eustace. It's for the best," Horst urged once again.

"Money! Money! Where's the key?" Eustace demanded once again.

"There's nothing in there for you!" Horst responded.

Eustace tried one last time as shouted, "GIVE ME THE KEY!"

Finally having had enough of Eustace's badgering, Horst sighed and said, "Okay!"

Confusion crossed Eustace's face and he said, "Okay?"

"If it'll get you to leave me alone, I'll give you the key. Search the lining of your hat," Horst said.

Eustace did just that and in no time at all, he pulled a key out of his hat.

"So that's where it was," Eustace said gleefully.

"How was he even able to hide it in there? Where COULD it even hide in there?" Avery asked out loud.

Horst gave her no answer and merely said, "You have been warned brother. Whatever happens is now on you."

And with that, they disconnected from Horst as Eustace picked up the box and laughed triumphantly.

Shirley however wanted to take the time to defuse him by saying, "You should heed your brother's word."

Instead, Eustace pulled a few bills from his pocket and started pushing her to the dining room door and pushed her out.

"We don't need you anymore lady. TAKE OFF!" he said and turned away from her.

"You shall not be warned again," Shirley said with a shake of her head and turned her attention to Avery, who froze under her gaze. "You! Walk me out."

Avery felt a chill run down her spine, but nodded her head and obliged with Shirley's request. They walked through the living room and to the front door. Avery even took the time for courtesy by holding the door open for her and felt some relief as the psychic chihuahua stepped outside. She was about to close the door when Shirley turned back to her and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Step outside," Shirley ordered.

Now Avery could feel herself begin to sweat, but there was an intimidating tone in Shirley's demands that she felt herself obeying them unconsciously. She stepped outside with no one else in sight and closed the door as soon as she was out on the porch.

Shirley continued to look her in the eyes and said, "Take off that pathetic disguise. It didn't work once child."

Avery sighed. She figured that her disguise hadn't fooled Shirley in the slightest, but had hoped that the more Shirley failed to acknowledge her the more likely it was that she wouldn't address her at all. Clearly that was a fools hope.

In the end, she obliged and took off the hat and the sunglasses.

"Never try to fool a psychic you silly girl. They're psychic for a reason," Shirley said.

"It was worth a try though," Avery said. "So... my great uncle then?"

Shirley shook her head and said, "Never mind that child. Have you figured out anything about your ornament?"

She even reached into her pocket and pulled out the crystal that Avery had dreaded so much since her first night there.

Avery sweat dropped, looked down at the bracelet on her wrist and said, "I'm afraid not. All I know is that it has a tendency to work whenever it wants. I'm still not sure what it's capable of, but when it works, it tends to work in ways that I need it to. Like it protects me sometimes."

Shirley narrowed her eyes and said, "I see... I suppose that's enough to keep you out of the crystal."

Avery sighed in relief as Shirley put the crystal away.

"For now at least. Keep an eye on it and you'll be fine. Also, I'd heed your deceased uncle's words and keep the stupid one from opening that box. I sensed fear in his voice so naturally it's to be kept closed. Mark my words," Shirley said and began walking off.

Avery watched her for a moment and then went back into the house. She reentered the dining room to see that Eustace was on the phone with an aggravated look on his face.

"You're not getting MY money whoever you are. So just shove off, "he said and then slammed the phone down on the receiver.

"Who was on the phone?" Avery asked him.

"Nobody, so quit bothering me. Shouldn't be this complicated to just open a lock," Eustace said as he picked the box up again.

"Uncle Eustace wait!" Avery stated, but he waved his hand in front of her.

"I waited long enough. Money money money," Eustace laughed as he inserted the key into the lock.

Avery's heart leapt into her chest as she saw a green glow begin to emanate from the box.

"UNCLE EUSTACE NO!" she screamed, but now it was too late.

She watched as he turned the key in the lock and he laughed even more. Even as the green glow grew brighter. Courage came running into the room from the kitchen and his eyes grew as big as saucers at the sight.

Eustace continued laughing as he ignored the glow and said, "I knew it. We're rich! WE'RE RICH!"

Muriel came walking in and said, "Did you say something Eustace?"

She let out a little gasp as Courage pushed back on the door, forcing her out of the room. Eustace picked up the box as the glow grew brighter still. By now however, his smile had vanished.

"Uncle Eustace he kept that box locked for a reason!" Avery hollered, but she was again too late.

Two large green arms shot out of the box and Eustace threw the box right to the other side of the room.

He pointed at the creature and said, "What are you doing in my box? With MY money."

The creature, now visibly angered, smacked away the dining room table and chairs reached out to Eustace. Courage let out a scream and grabbed the lanky farmer and started running for the dining room door as Avery ducked into the kitchen where her aunt was, stirring a pot of jam.

Muriel looked at her and said, "Oh my! Avery what's going on in there?"

Avery caught herself and said, "There was something else in the box. There's a reason Uncle Horst didn't want us to open it."

Before she could explain more, Courage ran into the kitchen without Eustace. He screamed as he slammed the door shut, but it then flew open, knocking him and Avery to the side as a giant hand came into the kitchen and grabbed Muriel.

Muriel screamed as the hand pulled her back into the dining room and hollered, "Courage! Avery! HELP!"

Avery helped Courage back up to his feet and they both dashed back into the dining room to see the giant hands were trying to pull both Eustace and Muriel into the box. The elderly couple were holding onto the radiator in the room for dear life as the hands tried hard to pull them into the box with it. It was working, but the radiator began to pull up out of the ground and it wouldn't hold for long.

Courage ran out of the room, leaving Avery amazed by him.

"Courage where are you going? We need to do something," she said, but the dog was back a second later with the clothesline. Avery began mentally kicking herself and said, "Oh! You were going to get a rope. Duh!"

"My clothesline? Did you fold the clothes?" Muriel asked and Courage nodded. "Such a good dog."

"Aunt Muriel, we have bigger priorities right now than the laundry," Avery said.

"I know," Muriel said with a frown and then screamed again.

Courage acted quickly as he took the rope and tied it around the couple and then tied them together. He and Avery then took the rope, went outside and wound it around the house multiple times in a desperate bid to keep them secured for as long as possible. But they still had no idea how to fix the problem.

Avery saw the panic in him and a thought crossed her mind. Her Uncle Horst had to have trapped that thing in the box before. So surely he must know how to trap it again.

She looked at Courage and said, "Let's go find that medium and contact Uncle Horst again. If he put it in the box once, he must know how to trap it."

Courage nodded in approval and, holding her over his head, ran from the farmhouse and towards town. Right as some of the wooden boards of the house began to creak and crack.

* * *

In short order, they were both back in town. It was late, so no one was really out so no one could stop and question what they were up to. The speed to which they got to town amazed even Avery, but she knew that whenever the little dog was determined, he was capable of doing amazing things. From the town entrance, they made their way to the local TV station and to their relief, they saw Shirley's little wagon sitting just outside of it. They ran inside quickly and it didn't take them long to find the studio that Shirley worked in (thanks to all the supernatural decals right around the door). They went inside to see Shirley was flossing her teeth for no discernible reason.

She looked up from her flossing to see the two of them run in. She already had a good reason to believe why they were there. Even before Courage began his usual babbling, pointing and morphing routine when he explained all the horrible things that they had just witnessed.

"The Stupid One, he opened the box yes?" she asked.

Courage nodded and Avery said, "Yep, he did. I did try to warn and stop him. But he's always been so stubborn and refuses to listen. Especially when money and his brother are involved."

"That is why I call him The Stupid One. Alright, take me to him," Shirley said.

Avery looked at Courage and said, "Courage, if you please."

Wasting no time, Courage picked Avery up and placed Shirley on top of them and began running for the farm again. As they ran, Avery decided that now would be the best time to get in contact with Horst again.

"Shirley, I have a favor I need to ask you," Avery said.

Shirley looked at her and Avery was expecting a stern or cold look from her. Instead, she saw something a little more sympathetic.

"What is it child?" she asked.

Avery took a breath and said, "I need you... to contact my Uncle Horst again. I need to know what this thing is and how to beat it."

Shirley nodded and said, "I will try. Take my hand."

Avery did just that and waited as Shirley opened her mouth and heard the ringing sounded.

"Please Uncle Horst. Please answer me," she said quietly to herself.

After a few seconds, she heard the sound of someone answering.

"Well Eustace, did you like what you found? I did try warn ya," came Horst's voice in a condescending tone.

"Uncle Horst, it's not Eustace," Avery said.

"Huh? Who are you," asked Horst.

Avery chuckled and said, "Not surprised you don't recognize my voice. The last time we saw each other, I was just a little girl."

Horst was quiet for a moment and said, "Avery? Little Avery? Is that you?"

Avery couldn't help but smile and say, "Yep."

"Avery! I can't believe it. Sounds like you're all grown up now," he said.

Avery chuckled and said, "Well I'm older now if that's what you mean. Though whether I'm grown is... debatable."

She laughed at her own joke, referencing the fact that even in her 20's she still wasn't very tall. Not that it really mattered to her.

Horst chuckled as well and said, "So what do you need kiddo?"

Avery stopped chuckling and said, "Well for one, you were right. Eustace ignored your warning and opened the box. Now something is trying to pull him and Aunt Muriel into the box. I need to know. What is it? How do we stop it?"

Horst was quiet for a moment and said, "It's my fault that that thing exists and it's my fault it's in there. The one nice thing I tried to do for my brother and I still screwed it up."

"What do you mean?" Avery asked.

Horst sighed and said, "First Avery you need to know that I have not been a good brother to Eustace. Always putting him down when our ma always put him down as well. Pa was about the only one who ever showed him any love or compassion, even when he screwed everything up. So every time I went on my expeditions, I always put some of the money aside and stashed it away. I figured that if i could do anything nice for him, it might as well be with my passing."

Avery took a moment to think and said, "You were going to leave your money to him anyway? Why'd you make his younger life miserable?"

"Eustace was always a wimp and I wanted nothing more than for him to find that inner warrior and be a strong man. That's why I was always like that, hoping one day that he would snap and find the courage to stand up to me. Clearly that was never going to happen. So I figured that if I should do one nice thing for him, it should be my last act ever. But I still screwed that up," he said

"What happened?" asked Avery.

"I got too ambitious with my discoveries. So I decided to try to discover something that no one had seen before," he said and then let out a sigh. "So I turned to demons and the occult.'

Avery's blood ran cold as her heart sank and she said, "You didn't."

"I did. And clearly I got more than I bargained for. I summoned a real demon and it attacked me. The only way I could stop it was to trap it in something and seal it and the first thing I grabbed was that damn box. The box I was planning to leave to my baby brother. After that, I buried it somewhere and took the secret to my grave. Now I wish I had taken it as far away as I could before burying it," Horst said with despair in his voice.

Avery could feel some tears welling up in her eyes. He WAS planning to do something decent for the one person he picked on relentlessly. That deep down, he truly loved his brother, but had no way he could show it. And the one nice thing he was wanting to, he accidentally screwed up.

Finding herself, she said, "You made a mistake, it happens. You didn't mean for anything bad to happen. But now you can fix it. How do we stop it?"

"Just close the box and the creature will be trapped inside again. Simple as that," he answered.

Avery listened and said, "Thank you. You rest easy now Uncle Horst."

"You take care of yourself Avery. When I see your parents next, I'll send them your love," he said.

Now some tears did run from Avery's eyes at the thought of her parents. The ones who's deaths, still rang freshly through her mind.

She shed some more and said, "Thank you again."

And with that, a hanging up sound was heard and Shirley closed her mouth. It was at the right time as well since they had just arrived at the farmhouse and Courage set them down. The wood was starting to rend and break under the pressure of the rope keeping Eustace and Muriel from being pulled into the box.

"Get everything you need?" she asked Avery.

Avery nodded and said, "Yes. I did."

* * *

Back inside, Eustace and Muriel were still hanging on for dear life. Thankfully in no worse case as earlier, but given that the house's structure was weakening, it wouldn't last much longer. Now however, there was less to fear. Avery walked over to the box as Shirley went to face Eustace.

"You had to open the box didn't you?" Shirley scolded him and then muttered something in her native language.

Eustace scowled and Avery just frowned at him as she closed the lid of the box with her foot. Almost immediately, the hands scream out in pain, releasing both Eustace and Muriel in the process. The hands twitched in agony and then pulled themselves back into the box. Avery and Courage sighed in relief and then a crisp hundred dollar bill flew out of the box and into the air. Shirley caught the bill in her hand and then pocketed it in her dress.

"House emergency fee," she said as she pocketed it and began walking away.

Eustace sat up at the sight of the bill and said, "I knew there was money in there."

He got to his feet and ran for the box again and picked it up.

"EUSTACE NO!" both Avery and Muriel screamed but they were too late once again. Or, more likely, Esutace just wouldn't listen.

He opened the box and he was immediately sucked right into it. Muriel shook her head while Avery just facepalmed as her uncle's stupidity as the box clattered to the ground. Yet they could still hear him.

"Look at all this money! Whoopee! I'm rich! I'm finally rich!" he hollered from inside the box.

Shirley shook her head and muttered in Spanish once again as she walked out.

Muriel looked at her and said, "Thank you again at least."

Shirley didn't answer her, but looked at Avery instead and gave her a nod, which Avery returned.

* * *

The very next morning, Muriel, Avery and Courage were sitting in the living room as Muriel and Avery were tasting Muriel's freshly made jam while Courage sat in the arm chair, playing with his yoyo.

"Aunt Muriel I have to admit, your aunt Gertrude was right," Avery said as she ate another spoonful of jam.

Muriel nodded and said, "I agree. This jam tastes heavenly."

"Can I buy some from you?" came Eustace's voice from the box on the stand by the arm chair.

'Poor Eustace,' Avery said in her head. 'All that money and no place to spend it.'

"You can have all the jam you want when you get out of there," Muriel said. "But first we have to find that key."

Avery chuckled as she and Muriel had some more of the jam. Neither one of them noticed that Courage actually had the key on him and was not about to use it.

* * *

**So now let me explain why this chapter is so late. After my update back in October, the rest of the year got hectic. Worked extra time in October to help with my sister's wedding. And then there was final planning and the wedding itself in November plus a trip I had been planning shortly after that. Then came the Christmas season which is always a busy time for me. So I worked as much as I could during that time and it's not easy during that time of year.**

**Then we come to 2020. Oh boy, you don't need me to tell you just how stressful this year has been for everyone. Lost my job due to the current pandemic and haven't been able to find work. Been stressing on it so much, that the will to write just wasn't there. So I finally forced myself to do a little writing and... it honestly took a lot of the stress off of me. So I think I'm going to use writing for a bit as a way of helping take the pressure off of myself.**

**I'm REALLY sorry that this chapter was so late and i promise the next one will be out much much sooner than this one. Especially with my newly rediscovered passion for writing, I should be able to keep it.**


	13. King Ramses Curse

**Told you guys it wouldn't take long for me to get another chapter up. This ladies and gentlemen, is THE episode, THE episode that actually gave me nightmares as a kid. I honestly had a hard time even watching the show again after I saw it for the first time. I was always afraid that it would be THIS specific episode. But as the show went on, there was another episode that actually scared me more. But we'll get to THAT episode when the time is right.**

* * *

It was late one evening as Avery was lying in bed, trying her hardest to fall asleep. Her aunt had gone to bed earlier that evening, but she could still hear the sound of the TV playing downstairs. Meaning that her uncle Eustace was either still watching TV or had fallen asleep watching it again. But that wasn't what was keeping her up right now.

Instead it was the bracelet, which she could feel was pulsating in a steady manner this evening. Like it sensed that something was coming their way. Something dangerous.

It had acted crazy back at the motel with the psychotic cat and his spiders and when that insane duck had come knocking on their door. She had had enough of Nowhere's strangeness and didn't want to deal with it. But no matter how much she tried to ignore it, it was just going to keep bothering her about it and keep her from falling asleep.

Right as she turned over in bed though, she heard a sound. It sounded shrill, but just as soon as it had come, it just stopped. This was followed by a loud rumbling that seemed to buzz right over the house and was soon silent.

Almost like a helicopter had just flown over the house. It was at this point that the bracelet had stopped pulsating.

The rumbling is what made her sit up in bed. She quickly got up and ran over to the attic window. She peered out and saw nothing unusual in the yard or on the road in front of it. But she was able to catch a light in the sky that was shining down on the road and was now disappearing into the distance.

'So there WAS a helicopter flying over,' she thought.

She slipped out of her room and down the attic stairs, creeping over to her aunt's bedroom door and peeking in. Her aunt was still in bed, sound asleep. At least the sound of the helicopter flying over didn't wake her up. Leaving her aunt's door, she crept down the main stairs and could see Eustace sitting in his arm chair, fast asleep as well with the TV still running.

'Never knew my family had such heavy sleepers,' Avery thought.

She also saw that Courage standing at the window and looking out of it. She went over to him and gently placed a hand on top of his head. He flinched at her touch, but calmed down when he saw it was just her.

"It's just me boy. Helicopter bother you as well?" she asked.

Courage nodded and looked out the window again.

"I wonder what was going out there," she said. "Why would a helicopter fly so close to the house in the middle of the night? Maybe we should ask about it in the morning."

She got up to go back upstairs, but stopped when she felt Courage tug at the skirt of her nightgown. She looked down to see him pointing out the window and he started babbling something. She looked out the window to see that he was pointing in the direction of the water pump.

"Something by the water pump boy?" she asked to which he nodded.

Avery thought of what she could do right now. She thought that she could run out and find out what it was that was bothering him about the pump. But at the same time, it was just after midnight and since he wasn't in full panic mode, she figured it was something that could wait a bit.

With a yawn, she looked back down at Courage and said, "It's pretty late right now buddy. Can this wait until morning?"

Courage shrugged and said something that sounded like he was saying, "I guess."

She patted the top of his head and said, "Alright. Let's get to bed and deal with this tomorrow."

She smiled and scooped him up in her arms. Even if he wasn't panicking, she still wanted to make sure he didn't get anymore worked up than he was right now. Maybe if he stayed the night with her, he'd be more comfortable.

"Why don't you stay with me tonight boy? This way you don't have to worry about anything else tonight," she said as she stroked the top of his bed.

Courage nodded and let Avery carry him back up to the attic with her.

* * *

The very next morning, Avery and Courage walked out to the water pump. Since nothing unusual was visible around the well, but Courage was still worrying about it, she had grabbed a small hand shovel before they wandered out to it, thinking that something could have been buried near it. Sure enough upon reaching the pump, she spotted a mound of fresh earth right next to it. The dirt couldn't have been more than a few hours old.

As the bracelet began to pulsate, Avery got down on her knees and she took the shovel to begin scooping out the fresh dirt while Courage dug right next to her. It didn't take them long to find something in the dirt, something as hard as stone.

"Seriously? This shallow in the ground?" Avery said as the shovel clanged against it.

She took the shovel and began removing the dirt from around the stone and Courage kept digging downward to pull more dirt away from it. It didn't take long for her to get the stone loose and pulled it out of the earth. But one look at the thing and she began to wish that she had just left it as the bracelet began to pulsate faster.

Four different images had been carved into the large stone slab. The first being what looked like some waves and just underneath it was a gramophone and just under that was the image of a locust. But the one that unnerved her the most was the largest image. That of a skeletal figure, wearing shrouded clothing and three thin tufts of hair coming out of a skull like head. Just staring at it for a few seconds was enough for Avery to lose her cool and she looked away from it.

Courage took it from her hands and took a look at it as well. Even he began to whine as he looked at it.

"Giving you a sense of dread too?" she asked him.

Courage nodded and Avery took another glance around. This thing had to have just been buried her and she wondered if the people who had left it here were still around. She decided that if they were, she'd rather that she and Courage not be caught out in the open with it if these people came back for it. Dusting off her jeans, Avery helped Courage fill the dirt back into the hole and they dashed back to the house to avoid any detection.

* * *

Back inside, Eustace and Muriel were sitting and relaxing in the living room as usual. Muriel rocking in her chair and Esutace sitting in his armchair and reading the morning newspaper. As they sat, Avery came walking back into the house with Courage following behind her, carrying the slab in his mouth.

"Why what's this now?" Muriel asked as she took the slab from the dog's mouth. "Oh my, this looks very old."

"We found it buried by the water pump outside," Avery said as she set the hand shovel in the closet.

Muriel frowned and said, "Now what was it doing out there?"

Avery shrugged and said, "Beats me. The dirt was fresh though, so someone must have just hidden it there. Don't know why though."

"Sounds like they wanted to get rid of it. Well if they didn't want it," Muriel said and then looked at Eustace. "Eustace, come look at what Courage and Avery found."

Eustace grumbled as Muriel brought the slab over to him. He yanked it out of her hands and took a good look at the artifact.

"Well judging by the markings and the obvious age of the relic, I'd have to say it would be, GARBAGE!" Eustace said as he threw the slab out the window.

Muriel scowled at Eustace as the slab hit the ground outside. Avery went to the window and looked down at it.

"Eusatce!" Muriel chastised him.

Eustace merely picked up the TV remote and continued his rant by saying, "Garbage! King Garbage from the Garbage Dynasty."

"Uncle Eustace, an artifact like that could be worth money. Some museums would pay for stuff like this," she said.

Eustace waved her off and said, "Who'd pay money to go to a building and see garbage? You can just step right outside and stare at your garbage cans for free. It's the same thing. Stupid dog, always bringing garbage into the house."

He turned on the TV and switched to the news, ignoring the angry glares that the rest of the family was giving him.

"And that little dog chased his tail all night long. But the big story today! Million dollar slab stolen from the tomb of King Ramses'," said the newscaster as the news displayed a picture of the slab.

The very slab that Avery and Courage had just found a little bit earlier. Even Eustace went wide eyed at the picture as the rest of the family watched on.

"A million dollars?" Eustace said in excitement.

"A million dollars?" Avery repeated just as excitedly.

Eustace ran over to the window and plucked the slab right out of the ground spouting, "I'm rich!"

He set the slab on the night stand and went to the phone.

"A million dollars?" Avery repeated to herself as the idea of sudden riches filled her mind with excitement. With that money, any financial situation would be a thing of the past and have plenty of money left over.

"But the man said it was stolen Eustace. We must return it to it's rightful place," Muriel reminded Eustace.

And with that, all thoughts of fame and fortune were erased from Avery's mind. That was true, it was a stolen artifact. Given that it had rightful owners and they weren't it, they had to give it back back to who it truly belonged to. And demanding money for it in order to return it could land them in prison. And she was not about to go to jail for extortion.

"Uncle Eustace, Aunt Muriel is right. We can't demand money for something that was stolen," Avery started, but was cut off when Eustace spoke up again.

"Where's your love of money gone Avery? He said a million dollar slab, that means we get a million dollars! And you know what a million dollars means?" Eustace said excitedly.

'We all go to jail for twenty years?' Avery asked in her head.

But she was pulled out of her thoughts as a sudden force from the bracelet shot through her arm and Courage let out a howl. He tugged on Avery's arm and pointed down at the slab. She took a look at it and it still looked normal to her, except for one thing. It still had the three smaller carvings of the waves, gramophone and locust. But the larger, skeletal looking carving was gone. Replaced by nothing but smooth stone.

'Aw crap! What is it this time?' she asked herself as her eyes grew larger.

"That's right. New lawn chairs!" Eustace finished.

As he finished, Courage got between them and began babbling again. Morphing into a mummy and making moaning sounds similar to the undead. Eustace didn't pay attention however as he picked up the phone and dialed the number for the Nowhere News.

"Nowhere News?" Eustace said as they answered on the other end. "I want to put an ad in the paper."

Courage continued to shiver as Muriel began to dust around the room. Avery threw up her arms in annoyance and crossed her arms as she sat down in her aunt's rocking chair and just glared at her uncle once more.

They heard some chatter on the other end which was followed by Eustace saying, "Yes sir. Start running that ad right away."

* * *

About an hour or two later, there came a knocking at the door. Despite being a small town, news always seemed to travel outside of Nowhere very quickly so it came as no surprise to Avery that someone had heard about their discovery so soon. So neither she or her aunt were surprised to see a short portly man standing before their front door. The man had a large red mustache and was dressed like he was about ready to go exploring. He looked like a smart enough individual, with a taste for excitement.

Eustace pushed past Muriel, looked at the man and asked, "What's your offer?"

"I am Professor Frith of the Institute of the Pharaoh," the man introduced himself politely. "I've come to retrieve the slab you lot found."

"You see Eustace? I told you it was stolen," Muriel chastised the old farmer.

Avery nodded and said, "It belongs to the Institute and needs to be returned."

"No no young lady," the Professor stated. "It still belongs to the late King Ramses. We had it on traveling display and have plans to return it to it's rightful resting place once it's tour concluded. Once returned to us, we plan to put it back in the tomb from we had gotten it from to keep it from being stolen once more."

Avery smirked and said, "Sounds reasonable."

"Probably for the best," added Muriel.

Courage however began his panic mode once more by pointing, babbling incoherently and morphing into a vanishing explorer and a sinking ship for some odd reason. Everyone, even Avery started at Courage in confusion. For Avery it wasn't because she didn't understand what was scaring him, but because she couldn't help but wonder what the sinking ship was about.

Eustace was clearly not amused as he just made a sarcastic laugh as he glared down at the dog before turning back to the professor.

"What's your offer?" he demanded.

"Sir the Institute of the Pharaoh is member supported. But for every million dollar donation, you'll receive this sporty tote bag with our thanks," he said as he pulled out a gaudy looking tote bag out from behind him.

Eustace however did NOT look amused as he frowned even harder.

'Well that's cheap,' Avery said in her head.

Eusatce didn't give an answer as he merely slammed the door in the Professor's face and went back to his armchair. Muriel began to lecture Eustace about his behavior as Courage began to panic. Deciding that she didn't want to be involved in this drama, Avery stepped outside as the Professor began to walk away from the farmhouse.

"Excuse me? Professor?" Avery called out.

The Professor looked back at her and said, "Yes? What is it young lady?"

She took a breath as she tried to articulate herself. She was kind of insulted by the Professor's cheap offer of just a tote bag, but at the same time since it wasn't their slab they had no business asking for anything for the slab's safe return. The fact they were offering anything at all was decent enough.

"Listen, I'm sorry about my uncle's anger. He was expecting something more than just a tote bag," she said.

The professor chuckled and said, "He loves money doesn't he?"

Avery laughed as well and said, "Yeah he does and I do too. But he doesn't understand reason. Listen, he's a deep sleeper and I know a million places where I can hide the thing around the farm. I'm sure I can get it from him while he sleeps tonight and I can stash it somewhere around the farm. If you come back tomorrow, I can hand it off to you without him noticing. He's not a bad man, well not entirely, just very misguided and stubborn. Plus I don't want authorities getting involved with this since the thing was stolen."

The professor smiled and said, "If that's the way you wish to play it young lady. I'll return sometime around noon tomorrow. Give me the slab and we'll call it an even trade."

Avery smiled as well and said, "Good. Oh and you can keep the tote bag as well. I don't need it."

'Plus it's ugly,' she said in her head so as not to offend the professor.

He smiled and said, "If you insist young lady. See you tomorrow then."

She nodded as she turned back to the house as the professor left the farm.

* * *

Night time rolled around and a heavy fog began to settle in and around the farm. For the rest of the day, Avery had looked through a couple of encyclopedias and even consulted the computer about King Ramses.

All that she could find was some entries saying that he was one of the most mysterious pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Not much was known about his personal life or his politics as he often isolated himself away from his family, subjects, slaves and servants and that he was also said to be rather deformed and that his appearance became more and more hideous as time went on. He never married and never had any children, leaving him without an heir. No one was even sure how old he was when he died or how it even happened. All that was said that in his final days, he had consulted mystics to create a special stone slab for him that he had requested to be part of his crypt. The legend goes that his remains were to be left undisturbed and that anyone who stole his precious stone slab with no intentions of returning it would be cursed to face horrors that no mortal man could possibly conceive, each horror worse than the ones faced previously.

A few months ago, Avery would have laughed and waved this off. But her short time living in Nowhere was enough to tell her that horrors like this were real and something to for her to be afraid of. But from the sound of things, this was something worse than any other horror that they had encountered before hand.

Well, maybe not as bad as being partially cocooned and drooled on by a hungry mutant spider, but pretty close to it.

Chills ran down her spine as she closed the book and set it back down on the floor beside her. Eustace was in his armchair, clutching and cradling the slab, muttering about becoming rich and the things he'd buy with all that money. All the while, Muriel rocked in her rocking chair with Courage in her lap. Avery kept taking a look out the window to see just how thick the fog was getting. Almost like it was unnatural, which wouldn't surprise her in the slightest at this point.

They were all jarred from their thoughts when there came a rattling sound from the farmhouse's front door, like something was desperately trying to get in. Avery gulped and Courage howled as the rattling became louder and angrier as whatever was on the other side was getting less patient.

Eustace grumbled as he got up out of his chair and said, "Probably that guldurn professor again. I'll give him a piece of my mind this time. Lousy tote bags."

He went to the door and Courage ran to the window. Avery stepped up behind behind her uncle in order to prevent him from opening the door, but was too late as he threw it open. Her heart leapt into her throat and a cold sweat broke out as she saw what was standing out in the middle of the yard.

"**R****eturn the slab!" **said a thin shrouded individual.

The sight of his bony mouth moving with his words and the skull like face that the mouth belonged to, was enough to terrify anyone. But for Avery, the sight of his wisps of hair and the flailing and contorting arms were enough for some tears of terror to come to her eyes.

The legends were true. The slab had to be cursed and now she and her family were the next victims for it. Unless they could comply with with the ancient spirit's demands.

**"Return the slab! Or suffer my curse!" **the figure repeated in a haunting manner.

Avery's hopes that her uncle would see reason for once in his life were dashed as he once again stated, "What's your offer?"

The skeletal king gave Eustace no kind of offer and instead issued him a dire warning. A warning Avery pleaded in her mind that he would heed.

**"This night, you will be visited by three plagues! Each worse than the last! Return the slab!" **it warned as it continued it's inhuman movements and tone.

Eustace however did not heed the warning as he let out a sarcastic laugh and said, "Nice try the professor!"

He slammed the door shut and turned away, holding tight to the slab as he turned back to the family.

"Who's he kidding?" Eustace said angrily. "I can see the zipper on that cheap dime store costume."

"Uncle Eustace I don't think that was the professor out there. The professor was short and chubby. The guy outside is tall and thin and moving about in ways that a person can't," Avery said.

"Bah! A cheap actor he hired then. They want this slab from me, they gotta take it from me," Eustace said bitterly.

It was then that Courage suddenly let out another howl. Eustace turned to look at the dog and Avery got a good look at the slab itself. The waves that she had previously seen carved on the slab were now gone. Her sense of foreboding was quickly followed by her feeling some water drop onto the top of her head. Followed by another and then another.

'Oh damn. Here we go,' she thought.

Soon they were all looking up and it looked like there was rain coming down inside the house. It came down at such a fast pace that it quickly began to pool at their feet.

Muriel held out her hands to feel the water come down and asked, "Courage, did you leave the tub running?"

"I don't think that's from the tub Aunt Muriel," Avery responded.

Pretty soon the water wasn't just dripping from the ceiling, it was also running down the walls and soon a small part of the wall burst open and water began pouring out of it. It even began pouring out of a moose head that Eustace had recently just put up over the fireplace and even out of the grandfather clock and then began gushing down the stairs. The house began filling up with water at an alarming rate. In a horrifying matter of seconds, the water level was already up to Avery's waist and was still rising quickly.

Wasting no time, the family ran for the stairs and climbed up to the second level, but that too quickly filled up with water. They ran for the attic, but this did no good either. As soon as they reached the attic door, the water pressure behind it caused the door to explode inward and fill the room quickly. In no time at all, their heads were just inches below the ceiling. They each had to kick their feet, just to stay above the water. Just a few more inches, and there'd be nowhere else to go. Even the windows weren't breaking to the pressure.

Avery looked around, but saw it was just her, her aunt and Courage who were keeping above the water, but there was no sign of Eustace. She took a breath and dived underwater... only to see him with a snorkel and mask on, still clutching the slab.

'You cowardly excuse for a man,' Avery thought angrily in her head.

The bracelet began to pulsate, but Avery was in no mood to deal with it right now.

'Leave me alone, this is not the right time,' she screamed in her mind.

She noticed something swim right past her and swim out the attic door. Judging by the size and shape, it had to be Courage.

'What's that little dog up to now?' she thought.

She went back up to the surface of the water and emerged to find that her face was practically pressed against the ceiling of the attic and she could feel the water creeping up the sides of her head.

She tried to speak to her aunt, but every time she tried, she'd end up taking some water into her mouth. As far she could tell, she only had seconds left before they'd all begin to drown.

Then, all at once, the water stopped flowing and actually began to recede. Slow at first, but it quickly picked up and within a few seconds, all the water had drained out of the room, though it still dripped from the ceiling to no accumulation. Avery and her aunt took several deep breaths as they spit excess water out of their mouths.

"That dog is something else," Avery said to her aunt between gasps of breath.

Muriel nodded as Avery began wringing out her shirt and said, "That's why he's such a good dog."

**"Return the slab!" **the familiar undead voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Eustace looked out the window at the figure of King Ramses and once again repeated, "What's your offer?"

"UNCLE EUSTACE PLEASE!" Avery shouted, but the damage was already done.

Ramses raised his arms and this time Avery got a good look as the gramophone carving disappeared off of the slab.

"Oh no! Not another!" Avery cried out.

Muriel turned to Avery in an attempt to comfort her, but whatever she was going to say was suddenly cut off as the music began to blare. It started off as a piano playing, but then the horrible singing voices began.

_"The man in gauze! The man in gauze!  
The man in gauze! The man in gauze!  
King Ramses!"_

And the singing would just repeat like that. It wasn't just the horrific singing that was painful, it's the fact that it felt like it was blaring in their ears. They all covered their ears and began to scream from the pain of it. Except for Eustace who took the cowardly route once more and stuffed some cotton between his ears to block out the sound. Courage even came running back into the room, clutching his ears tightly.

Avery kept her ears covered, but then the bracelet began to twitch again and it twitched hard. She jerked that hand away from her ears and began pointing it out the window. At first she thought it was directed at King Ramses himself, but she began moving it away from him and the bracelet began pulsating faster, but more gently this time. She pointed it in the direction of a large rock not far from the house and that is when the bracelet began a non-stop vibration, telling her that it likely had something to do with this particular plague.

"Courage! Make it stop!" Muriel pleaded with the purple dog.

"COURAGE!" Avery called over.

Courage went to her, still clutching his ears tightly. Avery pointed at the rock in the distance and said, "Try that rock over there. The bracelet is agitated by it."

Courage didn't waste any time and ran from the room. Avery remained fixated by the window and watched as Courage ran from the house, baseball bat in hand, and towards the large rock. She saw him pause for a second, before he took the bat and began using it on something that was hidden just off view from her.

It was here that the music finally stopped. Despite some slight ringing in her ears, there seemed to be no damage to her hearing.

She took a look at the bracelet and said, "I love it when you make it easy for me."

The bracelet merely let out a single pulse in response.

"You guys okay," she asked her relatives.

"I think so," Muriel answered.

Eustace didn't answer and merely took his pinkie finger and dug around in the inside of his ear with it. Avery took a look outside and saw that the horrible figure of King Ramses did NOT look amused. Two of his plagues were down and both had been failures due to Courage's intervention. But Avery shuddered when she remembered that there was still one plague left and the image of a locust for it was enough to make her shiver.

**"Return the slab!" **he repeated once more.

This time, Muriel just glared at Eustace, clearly fed up with this whole thing. Avery stood with her and added to the intense glares that Eustace was receiving from the ladies.

"Eusatce what are you waiting for? Til we're six feet under?" Muriel said angrily.

"If those first two plagues were that bad Uncle Eustace, imagine how bad the final one will be. GIVE! BACK! THE SLAB!" Avery said as she grit her teeth in front of him with those last words.

By now it looked like even Eustace had had enough as he went to the window and threw it open.

"Alright fine!" Eustace said, giving Avery and Muriel a small amount of relief. That is until Eustace added, "But a million is as low as I'll go!"

The momentary relief that Avery had felt was gone in an instant as she pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "OH YOU STUPID-!"

Back outside, Ramses raised his arms and the final carving vanished. Thus, the third and final plague commenced. And no doubt, the worst one yet.

From over the horizon, a buzzing sound was heard. It started out low at first, but became louder and louder in just a matter of seconds. From out of the darkness and fog, a new cloud appeared. A dark, fast moving cloud. A cloud of noise and anger. In a matter of seconds, Avery could see that this was no ordinary cloud, but a cloud of locusts, very angry locusts. She looked to the ground and could see Courage rushing back inside, bringing her SOME relief. But all of her relief vanished as she saw the locust cloud consume the water pump and bucket with it. Next was the chicken coop and even the truck were no matching for this ravenous swarm.

Then they began to encircle the house.

**"Return the slab!" **Ramses repeated once more.

"Okay, now I think we can panic," Avery said and as she did, her aunt ran from the room screaming at the top of her lungs.

Eustace took the time to try to make a break for it and ran straight from the room and down to the living room. But he didn't get far as Courage suddenly jumped him and began trying to tug at the cursed slab.

"YOU STUPID DOG! Let go of that!" he yelled as he began tugging back.

Avery joined in and tried to help Courage pull it away from Eustace's grasp.

"Uncle Eustace, it's not ours. We need to give it back, otherwise WE! WILL! DIE!" she screamed as she tried pulling at the slab.

A rumbling sound came from the attic that sounded like pieces of the house were coming apart. The locusts were beginning to consume the house. If they didn't resolve this quickly, they too would be consumed by the swarm.

Eustace growled as he tugged and said, "Avery do you have any idea what's at stake here? A million dollars. And end to all our problems. Including YOUR problems. We can't pass this oppurtunity up."

"What good is a million dollars if you're dead?" she retorted.

The rumbling sounds became creaks and cracks and were swiftly getting louder as the locusts were getting closer and closer to them. Avery could already tell that the attic was gone and the locusts were now consuming the second floor.

**"Return the slab!" **Ramses repeated once again.

Avery suddenly lost her grip on the slab and Eustace began spinning around in circles in a desperate bid to get Courage to let go of the thing. Avery managed to recover and grabbed onto the slab once again.

**"Return the slab!" **Ramses repeated once more.

Then suddenly, the ceiling began to disappear and in a matter of seconds, they were completely exposed to the swarm. Avery squinted her eyes shut, expecting this to be the end.

"OKAY OKAY! You can have it!" Eustace suddenly screamed as he let go of the stone slab.

Courage quickly ran to the window and tossed the accursed slab outside, not even wasting a second open it first. Courage stood there and watched as the slab flew off into the distance. Then, all at one, complete silence.

Avery sensed the quiet around her and opened her eyes to see that most of the house had been destroyed, but the swarm of locusts was now gone. With a sigh of relief, she rolled onto her side, wrapped her arms around her knees and could feel some tears beginning to well up in her eyes. This was, to date, the closest she and the family had come to death and she couldn't help but let the emotions hit.

"It's over. Thank goodness it's over," she whispered as she began to shake.

Her uncle didn't share the same feeling as he suddenly ran from the house yelling, "NO! I can't believe I did that."

Avery merely groaned in frustration. Her uncle, once again, not learning his lesson.

Eustace ran out into the yard and grabbed the slab once more, holding it close to him. It took him only a moment for him to realize that King Ramses was standing only a few feet away from him. Clearly not amused by Eustace going back on his promise.

"That's three plagues," Eustace said as he held up three fingers. "You're out of ammo mister. He he he he. And don't think you can come around here pushing no tote bags on us neither."

Eustace was caught up in his gloating. So much so, he didn't notice that the black cloud of locusts had suddenly reappeared and were quickly closing in on him.

"What's your offer?" Eustace demanded once more.

**"Return the slab!" **Ramses demanded one last time.

It wasn't until the buzzing sound reached Eustace's ears that he realized it was too late. All he could do was scream one last time before the swarm overtook him.

* * *

The very next morning, Courage, Avery and Muriel were sitting in the remains of the living room. By some miracle, the TV set was still intact and it was working, despite most of the house being gone. It was a news report that they were watching as the Professor from the day before was being interviewed.

"At long last, the allegedly cursed slab of King Ramses has been returned to his crypt. Where it will remained buried in antiquity for all time," the professor stated.

Avery let out a sigh and said, "Yeah, allegedly cursed you say."

"Hopefully the lad can rest in peace now," Muriel added. "Oh, I wonder where Eustace is."

Avery shuddered and said, "He ran back into the yard after Courage threw the slab out the window. He didn't come back in after that."

She sat back in the armchair and thought to herself, 'If what they say about the curse is true, I don't think we want to know what happened to him.'

* * *

Meanwhile, in a crypt thousands of miles away, an ancient kings tomb remained undisturbed. But anyone who would have been in the tomb at the time would have been disturbed to hear the sound of an old man's scream, seemingly coming from nowhere, but everywhere at the same time.

They also would have been disturbed to see that King Ramses cursed slab had been altered very much as well. The three familiar plague markings were all still the same. But the carving of King Ramses was gone. In it's place was the carving of an old lanky man, in overalls and an old fashioned hat, screaming in absolute terror.

"What's your offer?" was the last thing heard through the tomb.

* * *

**This episode was fun to revisit. Though as an adult, it was hard for me to ignore the legal ramifications that Eustace's actions COULD have gotten him into by refusing to give the slab to the professor given that what Eustace had was stolen property. I know it's cartoon logic, but sometimes I do like giving things a small dose of reality.**

**So I'm gonna be changing the episode order a little again, which I will do from time to time. I was going to do Hunchback of Nowhere next, but I really really want to do Queen of the Black Puddle first, so THAT will be the next chapter. Hunchback of Nowhere will be after that.**

**Also Courage, what was up with that sinking ship?**


	14. Queen of the Black Puddle

**Hey everyone. Welcome to the next chapter.**

**Not gonna lie, the Queen of the Black Puddle was one of my favorite villains for the show. But I feel like she was very underutilized. There were several episodes where she could have easily been the villain, but they chose other villains that had already had their fair share of episodes. So I will be creating some original chapters for her going on.**

**Also in this chapter, Avery gets a new ability thanks to the bracelet. What that is, you'll have to read and find out.**

* * *

It was a lazy day on the farm today. A storm was raging outside with lightning flashing, thunder crashing and rain pounding hard against the roof, walls and windows of the farmhouse. It was almost rhythmic, like nature was making it's own music.

At least that's how Avery always liked to view it.

She was standing at the living room window and looking out at the rain that continued to come down outside, with the occasional flash of lightning. Ever since she was a little girl, she had loved watching storms roll through, especially at night. Having lived in Florida her entire life, she was used to seeing storms pretty often, especially in the springtime. She was pleased to see that storms were still common during the spring in the mid-west as well.

The rest of the family were engaged in their usual mundane activities. Muriel sitting in her rocking chair with Courage sitting in her lap and Esutace reading his newspaper from his armchair. Nothing out of the usual for them. They all just sat in the living room, listening to the dying storm pass by. That is until Eustace peeked over the top of his newspaper and peered at Courage, with the purple dog being the only one to notice. Everyone else took notice once Eustace dropped the paper.

"Ooga booga booga!" Eustace said with his mouth full of sharp false teeth.

Courage howled and screamed in fright as he jumped from Muriel's lap ran out the front door to the porch. Eustace just pointed and laughed at Courage's misfortune.

"Really Uncle Eustace? You can't go a single day without torturing him?" Avery asked with venom in her voice.

Esutace continued to laugh and said, "What? A little fear is good for him. But if he gets scared enough he wouldn't be so useless."

He continued to laugh as Avery rolled her eyes and stepped out onto the porch to check on Courage. He continued to laugh until Avery heard a whacking sound come from the inside of the living room.

"Ow! What did I do?" Eustace said as Avery just smirked at her uncle's deserved pain.

Courage just panted as Avery sat down beside him and rubbed the top of his head. The rain was now dying out and had reduced to light sprinkle rather than the downpour it had been just a few minutes earlier.

"It's okay Courage," she said softly. "Aunt Muriel's taking care of him now."

Courage still whined a little as Avery comforted him. But they were pulled out of the moment when they heard a loud gurgling sound which was then followed by a series of bubbling sounds. The bracelet began to pulsate again and Avery felt her gaze being drawn to a large puddle nearby. Courage followed her gaze and saw the puddle as well.

"Figures. Only in Nowhere can a puddle act strange as well," she said as she got up to her feet.

She and Courage walked over to the puddle to get a better look at it. One glance was enough to tell her that this was a deep puddle due to the darkness of the water. The one question she had was, where did it come from? The rain was already letting up and there were no other large puddles around the yard. Not to mention that there was nothing particulary special about this spot, as far as Avery could tell, that would allow so much water to accumulate here. As soon as they looked into the puddle, the bubbling stopped with only their reflections staring back at them.

Avery sighed as she patted Courage on the head and said, "Looks normal to me boy."

That is until their reflections began to distort and reform into a new image that neither of them had ever seen before. A figure of a creepy looking lady dressed in a black long sleeved dress with an red gem fixed to the V shaped neckline. The lady herself was unnerving to look at with her light blue skin, purple hair and pink pupil less eyes. She stared up at them and they stared back down at her. Both Avery and Courage could feel chills run down their spines.

Then she hissed at the both of them.

As Avery expected, Courage howled in terror and ran back towards the farmhouse. Avery on the other hand just stayed where she stood and looked down at the strange woman. Her heart hammered in her chest as the lady looked back and gave her a sinister smile in return. Especially when her eyes fell upon Avery's bracelet and she grinned even more. She gave Avery a little wave, before her form distorted and Avery's reflection returned.

Not wasting any time, Avery took a few breaths and then turned back to the farmhouse and ran back inside. By the time she was there, Courage was in the middle of his attempt at warning the elderly couple at the goings on just outside, morphing into a puddle and letting out a growling sound as he did so before reforming into himself again.

The couple just gave each other a look before Esutace went back to his paper, making sure to say, "Stupid dog."

Avery glared at him again as Muriel rubbed her forehead and said, "Courage, do you mind repeating that?"

Courage picked her up out of the chair and carried her back outside.

"Courage, please don't," Avery said as she followed them back outside.

Courage took Muriel over to the puddle and pointed down at the water, whining and babbling a little more. Avery stood just behind them, not expecting the reflections to distort again. And she was right, their reflections remained unaltered as they stared into the dark water.

"Oh Courage, it must have been a fish," Muriel said.

Avery gave her aunt a weird look and said, "Aunt Muriel, since when do fish appear in rain puddles? How would they even appear in rain puddles?"

"Oh I've seen crayfish swimming around in them right after storms before. And besides, we do have an underground source of water. Nothing to worry about," Muriel said as she turned back to the house.

Courage whined as he followed, but Avery kept looking into the puddle.

"That was no fish Aunt Muriel," she said as she kept her gaze fixated on her own reflection.

* * *

Some time later that day, things had settled down some. Avery was sipping some tea that her aunt had given her and suffice it to say, it was helping her calm down some. Her aunt was currently knitting and her uncle was back to reading his paper again, sipping some tea as well. Courage was back at the window, staring out at the puddle still. Avery looked back at him and could feel the agitation in him as well. She hoped that whatever it was that they had seen out there would leave them and their family be. I mean, they had bothered her so Avery couldn't blame her for wanting to scare them away. She'd be angry too if someone came bothering her when she just wanted some peace.

Muriel got up to go into the kitchen and said, "I think I'll get some more tea myself. Care for some more Avery dear?"

Avery nodded and handed her cup to Muriel and said, "Yes please."

Muriel took her cup with a smile and walked towards the kitchen. Eustace continued to sip at his tea, until all at once he heard a gurgling sound emanating from it. Avery heard the sound as well and looked up at Eustace to see what was up. Her eyes began to bulge when she saw the familiar form of the woman from the dark puddle rising up out of the steaming cup of tea.

"Eustace," came a loud whisper.

Eustace's eyes went wide at the sight of the woman as well. Avery began to stand up and go over to her uncle to try and take the tea from his hands. The lady turned her head towards Avery with a sinister smile and the next thing Avery knew, she was frozen in her steps, unable to take her eyes off of her.

The woman wagged a finger in the young woman's direction and said, "No no" before turning her attention towards Eustace again.

"Eustace," she whispered again as he suddenly became completely entranced by her.

She splashed some water on his face and Eustace moaned in delight at the feeling of the water on his face. Courage finally turned his head towards the old farmer and howled at the sight of the woman standing in the steam of the cup and that Avery was just standing there, staring at them and not doing a thing to help. As she began beckoning to Eustace, Courage finally decided to take action. He ran to Avery first and began tugging at the sleeve of her shirt, trying to get a reaction out of her. But to his shock, she didn't even register him on her radar. Like Eustace, she just kept staring at the lady as she beckoned her uncle.

Deciding that they weren't going to be of much help, Courage ran from the living room and towards the kitchen.

Avery continued to watch, not able to move or even take her eyes off of the woman. That is until the sound of Muriel's approaching footsteps were heard and the woman in the tea suddenly vanished before their eyes. Once she was gone, Avery blinked and rubbed her eyes.

'What... the heck... was that?' she asked herself.

Eustace on, the other hand, looked so mesmerized by what he had just witnessed, even sighing in contentment. Like he was in a trance, something that Avery knew he would easily fall into. She just wondered why she had fallen into one as well.

He was broken out of the trance when Muriel asked, "Are you alright Eustace?"

Eustace blinked and shook his head clear before answering, "What? Yeah yeah! Durn herbal teas. Been drinking too much of it."

"The kitchen ceiling is leaking again Eustace. You better go fix it," Muriel responded back.

Eustace grumbled as he got up out of his chair and crossed over towards the kitchen, grabbing a bucket from the closet first. Muriel turned her head towards Avery and noticed something off with her as well.

"Are you alright dear? You look a little dizzy," Muriel asked her.

Avery let out a sigh and said, "Yeah. Just stood up too fast is all. Anymore of that tea?"

Muriel shook her head and said, "Looks like we used the rest of it up. I'll get some more in the morning."

Avery gave her a confused look and said, "Are you sure? I thought I had some extra tea in the cupboard. Let me go check real quick."

Muriel smiled and said, "Thank you dear, you can probably reach up there easier than I can anyway. You wouldn't mind fixing some up if you find some would you?"

Avery shook her head and said, "Not at all. I'll be back."

Avery walked past her aunt and Courage and towards the kitchen door. She stepped into the kitchen, noticing that her uncle was standing by the bucket as water continued dripping into it.

"Hey Uncle Eustace, how's the leak?" she asked him, but he didn't answer.

She was turned towards the cabinet and walked over to it. She reached to the top shelf and found what she was looking for.

"Aha! I knew there was some left," she said and then turned back to Eusatce. "Hey Uncle Eustace you want more t-"

However, she stopped when she looked at him and saw something peculiar in front of him. The water had stopped dripping and one drop was currently hovering in front of his face... and looked like it had arms and a face. And the face looked exactly like the mystery woman from before.

"Oh no. Not again," Avery said and started making her way to them again.

But the drop was prepared. It looked at Avery and held up a finger once more. And like before, Avery froze in her steps and just stared at her. She wanted to go over and smack the drop away before she bewitched her uncle again.

"No interference," the woman whispered to Avery before she turned her attention back towards Eustace.

Avery turned her eyes towards the kitchen door, just as Courage opens it up and steps in. Avery wanted to call out and warn him, but she couldn't find her voice. Courage did see the droplet though and he must have realized the danger when he silent screamed through clenched teeth. He looked towards Avery and must have realized she couldn't do anything as he just stood there and shook.

"Eustace," the woman said again as she pulled out what looked like a perfume bottle.

She sprayed a small amount of whatever was in the bottle onto Eustace's face. He was annoyed by it for a second, but his annoyance was replaced with bliss as he smiled and moaned happily once more. Avery could only watch as this went on and horror set in when she realized she couldn't do anything to help. Even the pulses from the bracelet weren't registering with her right now.

Courage had clearly seen enough as he ran from the door and away. The woman winked at Eustace, before the water droplet turned back to normal and the water began dripping into the bucket once more. Once she was gone, Avery was free from the bewitchment she had endured from the woman and felt a little dizzy. So much so that she didn't even notice her uncle was now sitting in the water bucket with the water dripping onto his face.

She was broken out of it completely though as soon as she saw her aunt walking into the kitchen. She frowned and shook her head at the sight of Eustace just sitting in the bucket, goofy smile plaster on his face.

Muriel tsked and said, "Oh Eustace, you don't look so well. Let's get you to bed now."

Eustace didn't argue as he simply got up out of the bucket and walked out of the room, still in a daze. Muriel turned her attention to Avery and shook her head again.

"Avery dear, are you sure you're okay?" Muriel asked.

Avery shook her head clear and said, "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Found the tea."

Muriel still walked over to her and placed a hand to Avery's forehead, possibly checking for a fever.

"You feel alright, but it might be best if you got up to bed as well. Just to be safe," Muriel told her.

Avery wanted to argue and tell her about what was going on with this mysterious woman. But it would most likely make her aunt think she was feverish even more. So she decided to just do as her aunt had asked of her and simply nodded her head.

"Yeah. Might be best. I'm just going to get a bath first," Avery said as she walked out of the kitchen.

Muriel smiled and nodded adding, "I'll have a cup of tea ready for ya when you're done."

* * *

Avery sighed in contentment as she dried her hair off. The tub was already draining of water and she couldn't be more relieved. The entire time she was in the bath, she kept worrying that the creepy woman would appear and try to haunt her like she's been haunting her uncle. But thankfully nothing had happened and now she just wanting to get to bed.

She finished drying off and slipped into her nightgown and she, for once, felt comfort as the fabric rested against her body. She adjusted the gown to make sure it covered her properly, also grabbing her hairbrush. She began to brush her hair and stared back at her reflection. As she did, she began to ponder a few things.

'If she's after Uncle Eustace, why was she interested in me earlier? She didn't even acknowledge Courage,' she asked herself and stopped brushing for a moment. She looked back at the bracelet and asked, "Do you know anything about this? Does she know about you?"

The bracelet did nothing. It didn't pulsate or anything. It just stayed on her wrist and remained still and silent.

Avery groaned and said, "You're a big help aren't you?"

She was pulled out of her thoughts as someone began pounding on the bathroom door and turning her attention away.

"Avery are you almost finished? I need to take a bath too," came Eustace's voice.

Avery rolled her eyes as she put the brush away and said, "Yeah, just give me a sec."

She fixed up the nightgown once more to make sure she was covered and opened the bathroom door.

'Guess that stuff she used on him doesn't last long. He's grumpy again,' she thought to herself.

Eustace had his usual grumpy glare as he walked past her and said, "About time. Some of us have to clean up as well."

Avery rolled her eyes again and said, "Yeah yeah. Never mind that I'm trying to keep my hair healthy."

"Whatever," Eustace said as he slammed the door shut.

Avery shook her head and heard the sound of her aunt approaching. She turned to see her near the top of the stairs with a plate and a cup of steaming tea in hand. Avery smiled a little in relief as she walked over.

"Here you are dear," Muriel said as Avery took the cup. "Nice and fresh."

Avery sipped the tea a little and said, "Thanks. I needed this."

Avery noticed Courage walking by the two of them with a shower cap on his head and a towel wrapped around his waist. She could tell what he was up to.

"Hey Courage, you may want to wait a little bit. Uncle Eustace is still in there," she warned him, but Courage must not have been listening as he still went over to the bathroom door and creaked it open.

Muriel shook her head and said, "Well you did warn him. Eustace had better not try to scare him though."

Avery continued to drink a little bit of the tea, but stopped when Courage howled in distress and came running back over to them. He pointed to the bathroom door, doing his usual babbling that they couldn't understand before morphing into a puddle again and then into large monsterous fish holding a tiny Eustace and then back to himself.

'Oh no! Not again!' Avery was screaming in her mind.

They went over to the bathroom door and Courage tried turning the handle, but the thing wouldn't budge. So Courage decided to just kick the door open to impressive effect. By then however, whatever Courage had seen was now gone, but Eustace was thankfully still there. Only now, his head was inside the drain. How exactly that happened was anyone's guess.

Muriel let out a gasp and said, "Oh my! I'm beginning to worry about you Eustace. Tomorrow we're off to see the doctor, that's all there is to it. That goes for you too Avery."

Avery looked at her aunt in confusion and said, "Me? Why me?"

"You've been acting a little like Eustace tonight. I just want to make sure you aren't catching whatever he's catching as well. Now off to bed with ya both," Muriel said and that was it.

Avery knew that arguing with her aunt was pointless. Not that her aunt was stubborn, but arguing with her would only make her worry even more.

Deciding to listen to her aunt, Avery gave her the tea cup and thanked her for the tea. She walked up to her room and went to the window on the far side of the room. She looked out to where the dark puddle still lie. She watched as it began to bubble again, shivering at the thought of what that woman's intentions could be. She turned away from the window and climbed into bed.

"Please let this night be peaceful," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes.

* * *

The night passed without incident, as far as Avery could tell, and Avery stirred and awoke to the sun shining in her eyes. It was still early in the morning, so the sun was shining on her just as it rose over the horizon. She yawned and began to sit up in bed. But just as she began to stand up, she could hear something. It sounded muffled, but the more she listened to it, the clearer she could hear it. It sounded like someone was crying. Not just any someone, it was her aunt.

Her aunt was a tough woman, so hardly anything could truly upset her. Unless something happened to someone she loved. When she cried, she had a tendency to cry rather loudly. Which could only mean one thing.

"Uncle Eustace," Avery gasped and ran from the room and down to her aunt and uncle's bedroom.

Just as she expected, no sign of her uncle in the room and she could hear her aunt downstairs. But she looked over and saw Courage standing, pressed against the window and looking out. She had a good idea what he was staring out at.

"Courage," she called out to him, but he didn't react.

So Avery walked over to the window and called to him again. Like before, there was no response. So she tapped the top of his head and now he turned his attention towards her. As he looked at her, he suddenly jumped up and hugged her. Almost like he wasn't expecting her. She hugged him back and took a look out the window as well. Just as she guessed, the puddle was still out there. Except now it was beginning to look shallow.

'What's going on?' she asked herself before turning to Courage.

"She took him. Didn't she?" she asked.

Courage solemnly nodded his head and Avery could feel herself begin to quiver.

"Through the puddle?" she asked to which he nodded once more.

She knew that this was the worst case scenario and feared that this could happen. She knew what she and Courage needed to do, but she wanted to check on her aunt first. They went down to the kitchen together as Muriel sat in one of the chairs, just crying her eyes out. She held a tissue to her eyes as the tears just poured from her eyes.

"Aunt Muriel?" Avery said softly as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

Muriel sniffled some more and between sobs she said, "Eustace is gone! Oh my Eustace! I knew something was wrong!"

She continued to sob uncontrollably, despite Avery patting her shoulder in a vain attempt to comfort her. Courage tried to pour her a cup of tea, but Muriel didn't even raise her head to acknowledge it. So he then tried to offer her an ice cream sundae, but still got the same result. Animal balloons didn't work either, neither did a Punch and Judy show that Courage quickly tried to perform. Even whacking himself on the head with a frying pan proved fruitless. No matter what Courage tried, nothing could provide Muriel the comfort she needed.

"I want my Eustace," Muriel sobbed.

Avery sighed sadly and pulled away from her aunt. She walked out with Courage following close behind her. As soon as they were out of Muriel's line of sight and earshot, she got down on Courage's eye level and looked him straight into the eye.

"You know what we have to do, don't you?" Avery asked.

Courage shivered, yet nodded his head.

"This is gonna suck. But if we want to help Aunt Muriel, we need to do this," she said and then rushed back upstairs.

* * *

A few minutes later, Avery had changed clothes and was standing in front of the puddle with Courage. The little dog was wearing SCUBA gear, but Avery had looked all around the house but had found nothing that could help her with their venture underwater. Sure she had found some stuff, but it was mostly either too big or too small for her. She was about to reluctantly send Courage by himself, but then she took a minute or two to think.

The bracelet was capable of a number of things. She wondered if there was anything it could do to help her out with this. She had spent some time getting accustomed to it's behavior. Usually when it was being helpfully in a dire situation, it had some stronger pulses. When it wasn't, it had some lighter pulses. So she had asked it if it could give her anything to help her breathe underwater and she had gotten a strong pulse in return. After that bit of hopeful assurance, she rushed outside to join Courage for their little venture underwater.

But as she was looking down at the puddle, she noticed something alarming. The puddle was getting shallower as the rising sun was beginning to dry it up. She could tell that with the sun rising, it wouldn't be long before the doorway would be closed up. Courage began tugging at her wrist and pointed to the sides of the puddle, indicating that he noticed the puddle getting smaller as well.

She nodded and said, "I see it boy. We better do this quickly. You go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Courage nodded and dove into the water. As soon as he did, she looked down at the bracelet and began to plead with it.

"Whatever you're going to do, please let it be something I can work with. Please help me save my uncle," she said to fiercely.

It pulsated once and then, to her amazement, the bracelet began to glow. She stepped towards the puddle and as she slid on of her feet in, the bracelet began to pulsate strongly. It was trying to urge her into the puddle and she knew that she needed to hurry this up. Wasting no more time, she pulled her other leg into the puddle and she slipped under the water.

For a moment, she was blind and deaf to everything around her. It even felt like all of the air had been sucked out of her lungs. But after a second or two, she found that could easily inhale and exhale again, but she felt herself inhaling through the sides of her body and she could still exhale through her mouth and nose. She could could still feel the water all around her, but sight and sound were beginning to come back to her. She cracked her eyes open and saw a blurry shape floating in front of her. But as her eyes began to adjust, she quickly saw a familiar canine swimming in front of her.

"Courage? It works, I can breathe underwater," she said excitedly, but noticed Courage was simply starring at her in astonishment. "What? What is it?"

He pointed at her legs and as Avery looked down, she was astonished by what she saw. Instead of her legs, she saw a purple scaly tail, complete with fins and even gills filtering air out of the water which was allowing her to breath. She looked down and just as she expected, the tail consisted of the lower half of her body and the upper half of her body was still human. She was at first alarmed to see that her shirt was missing, but was relieved to see a blue seashell bikini still covering her breasts and keeping her from being exposed.

'Probably for the best. My shirt would have just added resistance to swimming,' she assured herself in her mind.

"A mermaid? I'm a mermaid?" Avery said excitedly. "I think I can work with this."

She looked Courage in eye and said, "What do you think?"

Courage nodded in approval and gave her a thumbs up.

Avery smiled at him and said, "Now let's go save Uncle Eustace before it's too late."

From here, the two swam deeper into the water. Or at least Avery was trying her best to. She was waving her new mermaid tail back and forth and while it was giving her some momentum, she wasn't swimming fast enough to keep up with Courage. He'd have to pause every now and then and wait for her to catch up. She had insisted he keeping going forward, but he refused to budge until she had caught up. It didn't take long for her to feel some exertion in her muscles.

"Okay so I guess I'll have to practice swimming in this form," she said to Courage. "Hopefully I can figure this out quickly."

At least it didn't take them long to figure out where they were supposed to go. After passing a few items that looked more at home in a child's fishbowl, like a sunken ship or treasure chest, they noticed an ominous looking castle in the distance. Sure it still looked like the type of castle you'd see in any fishbowl, but there was something a bit more frightening about it. The dark texture of the castle combined with the actual iron fence that Avery and Courage had to swim over was enough to already give them chills. It became even more so as they got closer and Avery noticed something even worse.

"Courage wait. Look at this," she said as she pointed towards the ground and his eyes went wide as well.

Littered all around them were bones. Human bones. Many, many human bones.

Avery scanned over them and mentally tried to count them, but found that the task would be near impossible. It wasn't just that there too many for her to count, but she quickly realized that the bones weren't just scattered about here. They were piling up.

"Oh God. How many people were dumped here? How deep down does this pile go?" she said as horror began to dawn on her.

She got a better look at some of them and noticed that a few of them were wearing colorful necklaces. Before she could examine any more of them, Courage grabbed her wrist and began tugging at her arm. She suddenly remembered that for every second they wasted there, the less likely they'd be able to save her uncle. Taking one last glance at the skeletons scattered about, she followed Courage once again. Swimming as fast as her newfound transformation allowed.

They swam about the towers, peeking into each one in a desperate bid to find Eustace. It wasn't until Courage looked into one of the highest tower that he finally found them. He signaled Avery over and she came swimming right over to him. They both peeked through the hole and saw Eustace in the tower, sitting inside a giant oyster, the silly grin plastered all over his face and making sighs of contentment.

And standing before him was the same creepy looking woman.

"Guess she thinks she's a queen or something," Avery whispered as they watched the newly dubbed queen and Eustace.

The queen danced before Esuatce in a rather seductive manner. The more she danced, the more pleasure it seemed to bring to Eustace. Avery couldn't help but feel a creeping sense of dread. This woman had spent the evening the day before terrorizing her and Courage while seducing Eustace. Given the myths she'd heard about creatures that did similar things, there was no way this was going to end well for her uncle.

The queen finished her dance and then turned towards the treasure chest that she was keeping in the room. She reached inside and pulled out a necklace made up various colored seashells.

"That's peculiar," Avery whispered, but was pulled out of her thoughts when Courage tugged on her arm.

She looked to him and he pointed back down at the ground where all the skeletons were piling up. She couldn't tell what he was pointing at at first. But as she narrowed her gaze, she got a better look at them. The skeletons she had seen earlier were wearing them as well. And as her eyes scanned over the human remains piled about, a grizzly horror dawned on her. It wasn't just a few skeletons that were wearing them.

Every last one was wearing a necklace.

Avery went wide eyed in horror and said, "Oh no!"

They looked back inside to see the queen draping the necklace around Eustace's neck with him none the wiser.

"Eustace," she whispered once more.

The duo continued to watch as the next part began. The queen grinned, only now her mouth was filled with extremely sharp teeth. Her fingers grew longer and gnarly and they watched as her form turned more and more monstrous. The creepy looking queen they had seen earlier now had an elongated mouth and stood taller and more menacing than she had been before.

Courage let out an involuntary squeal of fear and as soon as he had done that, the queen turned her head in their direction and let out a vicious growl.

Avery looked back at Courage and said, "We have to move now. Courage, you try to get Uncle Eustace away from here. I'm going to distract that monster."

This was not up for debate since they had no time to do so. Courage just did as he was told and swam off towards the sunken ship among the items that had passed earlier. Avery turned back to the evil queen who now had her sights back on Eustace. She opened her mouth wide, ready to take her first bite out of him. So Avery waved her fins as fast as she could allow them. She even began paddling through the water to try to boost her speed. This paid off though as it gave her just enough speed to tackle into the queen and knock her off balance.

For a moment at least. The evil queen began thrashing about, trying to throw Avery off of her. But Avery had her arms wrapped tight around the queen's neck, trying hard to pull her away from Eustace. It was going alright at first, but since she was still incredibly inexperienced with her new appendage, it was proving rather difficult. Before long, the queen was able to pull herself closer to Eusatce once more. So Avery just had to tighten her arms around the queens neck.

"Courage please hurry!" Avery called out as the queen began trying to pry the girl's arms off of her.

The moment that Avery had bought Courage, paid off as she saw a makeshift fishing line fly through the window and latch onto the pant leg of Eustace's pajamas. Courage quickly pulled him out of the tower and away from the monster. The queen roared in fury at the sight of her meal being pulled away and Avery took this moment to release the queen and whacked her once with her mermaid tail.

Using her fins and arms, Avery began swimming away from the castle and followed behind Courage. Courage swam quickly for the gate instead of going over it like Avery was trying to do.

"Courage go over-" but she was too late as the gates suddenly slammed closed, stopping Courage as his momentum caused him to slam into the gates. "Swimming over it would have been a better idea."

Before they could do anything else, there was a hideous roar and Avery watched as the queen came surging through the water, straight for Eustace and Courage, mouth wide open to take a bite. Courage was able to dodge her quickly, causing the queen to bite into the iron gate, ripping a large mass of it off.

Avery gulped and thought, 'If that was just an iron gate, imagine what she could do to flesh and bone."

Once glance around the castle could very well tell her what the queen was capable of. She looked around and saw that Courage was swimming over the sea of bones with Eustace. She followed after and was able to catch up this time with the aid of her arms. But out of nowhere, the queen shot up through the pile of bones. Courage screamed as Avery grabbed a solitary bone and jammed it into the queen's open mouth, preventing her from biting them.

"'Ousy 'rat!" the queen shouted at Avery as she tried to force her mouth closed.

Courage took a skull and whacked the queen on the head with it a few times before swimming off. Avery was about to follow, but the queen reached out and was able to grab her by the tail.

"NO! LET GO!" Avery shouted as she flapped the fins hard enough for the queen to lose her grip, but not before scratching Avery's tail and forcing her to wince.

The queen watched as the trio made their way back up to the tower where she'd been keeping Eustace. With one powerful snap of her jaws, the queen crushed the bone in her mouth and dashed after them once more. To her amazement, Eustace was sitting in the giant oyster again and she decided to take the opportunity to have her meal. Right as she was about to take a bite out of the farmer, Courage yanked on his line and pulled Eustace away to safety. The queen didn't have time to stop and so she hit her head on the oyster and Avery pushed on the lid and caused it to come down on top of the queen.

The queen screamed in fury and began pounding on the oyster shell from the inside. Parts of it sounded like they were already straining under her tirade.

"WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I'M GONNA!" the queen screamed before her words became incomprehensible.

Avery turned away and said, "That's not gonna hold her long. We need to go. NOW!"

She swam out of the castle with Courage following close behind her, swimming OVER the gate this time instead of trying to go through it. Up ahead they could see the light of the surface, but the light was fading quickly as it started to close up. They swam faster, desperately trying to reach the surface before it was too late. But Avery could feel the muscles in her arms cramping due to their excessive use. She still tried hard to keep up, but she was already falling behind Courage again.

"Courage, I don't know if I can make it!" she called to him.

Courage babbled something and pointed at Eustace. Thinking that she understood what Courage was getting at, she grabbed onto her uncle's still bewitched form and held tightly as Courage swam quickly for the surface. And right as he reached the source of the light, it vanished. Courage crashed into the ceiling of the body of water and lost his grip on the line that was dragging Eustace. Avery let go of him and grabbed onto his leg to keep him from drifting back down to the floor.

They heard a roar and looked down to see the queen coming up to them once again. Courage looked around and soon both he and Avery spotted another source of light. As Avery looked at it, she saw some of the familiar furniture of the farm house living room and nodded.

"Courage, let's go!" Avery said to him.

Courage nodded in approval and grabbed Eustace's other leg and they swam for the other puddle as well, Avery using her fins as best she could and as quickly as they would allow. Sure enough, they both broke the surface of the water with Eustace in tow and tumbled into the living room.

The sudden surprise made Muriel gasp and she called out their individual names. Courage wasted no time in grabbing a hair drier and began using it on the puddle of Muriel's tears, quickly drying them up. And just at the last second, the puddle was gone and a bump suddenly hit the floor. This was followed by the sound of the queen ranting and raving as her voice began to fade. Both Courage and Avery sighed in relief, knowing that they had just beaten the queen in her own element.

"Oh my, what was that?" Muriel asked.

Avery froze for a moment as she broke into a cold sweat. She hadn't had time to tell the bracelet to turn her back and began worrying about what her aunt would think about her new appearance. But as she looked down at herself, she once again didn't expect what she saw. Her legs were back as before. As were the clothes she had been wearing earlier before she went into the puddle. She looked down at her wrist real quick and saw a glow dimming from the bracelet.

Avery sighed in relief and quietly muttered, "Thank you."

"I think I'd rather not know," Muriel said before she started helping Eustace back up to his feet. "You're back! Eustace you're back! Where have you been?!"

In her fury, Muriel pulled out her rolling pin and whacked Eustace once on the head with it.

This broke the bewitchment on Eustace as he screamed out in pain, rubbed the top of his head and said, "What did I do?"

Avery pulled herself out of the armchair and said, "Uncle Eustace? You okay?"

Eustace rubbed the top of his head said, "Apart from my head, I'm fine."

"What... what do you remember?" she asked him.

Eustace continued rubbing his head and said, "I don't know. Last I remember is going to bed and seeing this weird lady saying weird things to me. Then I woke up to your aunt hit me on the head."

"Lady? What lady?" Muriel asked as she started to glare at her husband.

"How should I know? For all I know she could have been from the TV. I'm gonna go get an ice pack for my head. No one had better bother me," he said and then walked to the kitchen.

Muriel turned to her niece and Courage and asked, "Can someone please tell me what's going on?"

Avery chuckled and said, "I've been asking that same thing ever since I moved here."

* * *

Back in her lair, the queen swam back down to her castle and reverted herself back to normal. She wasn't just mad at losing her meal, she was furious. She had never lost a meal before in all her life, so this was a first for her.

But even then, this fight wasn't a complete loss for her. She got to see the girl in action. Sure the girl didn't have a proper grasp on her abilities yet, but that could change in due time.

She went down to the lower levels of her castle and straight into a windowless medieval chamber containing vials and bottles of various liquids and potions. In the center of it sat a cauldron with a heavy swirling liquid in it. She walked over to it and reached into the sleeve of her dress, pulling out a small purple scale that she had managed to pull off of the mermaid's tail and dropped it into the cauldron. The liquid let out a small popping sound as the scale hit the liquid and the queen waited for a moment for the cauldron to work it's magic. After a few seconds, the liquid turned into a clearer view. The image it showed was of Avery in the living room of the farmhouse, but the sight of her made the queen gasp.

"Oh my!" she said as she got a better look at Avery in the image.

So the transformation wasn't permanent, which delighted the queen. Mermaids were a rare find. But finding one that could also walk on land was even rarer. Even if she wasn't a mermaid by birth, it was still something that the queen could work with.

The queen grinned an evil grin as she swiped at the water in her cauldron, returning it to the swirling liquid from before.

This was perfect for her. It had been so long since she had had a servant in her midst. Human prey was getting harder and harder for her to entice due to changing times and lifestyles. But to have a minion that could walk on land and sea would be exactly what she needed to lure more prey down to her.

She'd have to wait though. The young lady was still new to her abilities and would need to practice them before she could claim her. But for the time being, still angry that she lost her meal, found some comfort that she now had a far more valuable prize in mind.

"Avery beware," the queen whispered. "Soon you'll belong to me."

* * *

**And that's that. I hope everyone liked Avery's new ability. Because it will be used a bit more as the story goes on. In other episodes and some original chapters.**

**Next time I'll be doing another favorite season one episode. The Hunchback of Nowhere. **


	15. Hunchback of Nowhere

**Welcome to the next chapter folks. Just gonna say, this episode is actually another of my favorite episodes of the first season. The morals about the episode still hold up to this day and not to mention it has one of my favorite soundtracks in the entire series. Out of all the episodes I recommend revisiting, this is the big one.**

**Also a little warning, this episode is easily Eustace at his worst in the entire series and I decided to take things just a little step further. Some of it might be triggering so please tread carefully as you read. I'm sorry if anyone becomes bothered by it, but I included it to show that even Avery has her limits with him.**

**Please enjoy**

* * *

It was a stormy night in Nowhere, just a few days after the last storm. The very storm that led to Avery discovering her new ability. In the days that had passed since discovering that she could transform with the bracelet, she had planned to go to the lake some time and practice swimming with her new power. But because of her uncle still being in the doghouse due to the whole Queen of the Black Puddle Incident, as Avery called it, she'd been sticking around the farm until things could lighten up again.

She still wondered at the other possibilities her bracelet could give her, but hadn't yet dared to look into it yet. With there being no place to safely test it around the farm, she didn't dare try it since there was the possibility either her aunt or uncle could discover the bracelet and what it could do.

Currently she was sitting at the window, watching the rainstorm going on outside and listening to the thunder whenever lightning would flash across the sky. Eustace sat in his chair reading the paper while Courage napped on the rocking chair nearby. Muriel was currently in the kitchen washing the dinner dishes, which she had declined Avery's offer to help. All seemed nice and relaxing.

That is until Eustace started up again.

Eustace threw his paper down, glared at Courage and said, "I thought I told you to fetch my raincoat!"

Courage lifted his head and let out a confused grunt as Eustace started up again.

"Don't you know how to fetch? You stupid dog," Eustace said.

"Uncle Eustace, lay off him," Avery said as she turned away from the window.

She turned away just as someone appeared at the window. The figure was not a pretty one to look at and could possibly terrify someone, but watched the scene unfold regardless.

Eustace shook his head and, "He's a dog. All dogs should know how to fetch. It's in their natures. Just like how THIS is in MY nature."

Eustace turned away from Courage with a cheeky laugh and reached into his pocket. He brought both hands out again, this time making a popping out effect with them that caused his eyes to extend far outside of his head. Courage screamed in horror and stood on top of the chair with his hair raised, while Eustace just laughed and laughed at the dog's misfortune. Avery groaned in disgust at her uncle's actions and the figure at the window shook his own head in disgust at the sight.

Avery turned her head back to the window and froze right as she saw the face of the figure staring right back at her. His sickly green skin combined with ragged clothing, hunched back, large nose, bulging eyes and tufts of red hair were all sharp contrasts of each other. And the sudden surprise of his appearence at the window didn't help matters either.

Without even realizing it, Avery screamed and fell backwards in her chair, leaving her sprawled on the floor as she hit her head against the floor. She groaned as she rubbed the back of her head.

Eustace looked at her and said, "What's your problem?"

Avery pointed at the window and said, "Someone at the window. His face... his face was horrible."

They all looked back at the window and saw that it was vacant. No one at the window, not even a shred of a soul at it. Avery looked up and saw no sign of the face she had just seen.

"Oh come on," Avery groaned as she laid her head back down.

"Ahh! You're seeing things. Been around the dog too much," Eustace said back to her.

Avery glared and said, "Uncle Eustace I was not-"

She was cut off though as someone began knocking at the front door. Avery paled at the possibility that it could be the same deformed man that she had just seen at the window. If he was still outside, what did he want with them?

Eustace stood up from his chair and said, "Visitors at this time of night? Who the heck does that?"

He crossed over to the door and grabbed the door handle.

"Uncle Eustace wait-," Avery once again started, but was too late as he opened the door.

Sure enough, the same man that Avery had just seen at the window was standing at the door. She gulped as she got a look at him and waited for his demands. But she was not ready by just how gentle his voice would be.

"Excuse me sir?" the man started.

"Eh?" Eustace said with horror beginning to materialize on his face.

The man smiled as he said, "Do you have any room I can spend the night in? I'd also like to apologize to the young lady for terrifying her so badly at the window. I had no intention of startling her."

Eustace just looked at the man with horror plastered all over his face and just screamed a long loud scream, causing the man at the door to frown, before yelling, "NO!" and then he proceeded to slam the door in the poor man's face. Avery looked back at the door and could see the man walking off with his head down through the screen.

'Jeez. He may not be pretty but he was at least polite. Then again I screamed at him too,' Avery said in her head as she began to feel a little shame build in her.

"Uncle Eustace, was that completely necessary?" she said.

He looked at her and said, "Whatcha preaching to me for? I know you screamed at him too. Besides with you taking the attic, there's no place else to put him."

Avery shook her head and said, "Yes, I did scream. But that's more because he startled me. Plus we still have the basement."

Sure the basement wasn't exactly the most comfortable location in the household. But it would have been better than sleeping on the cold ground outside in the rain or in something like the chicken coop or barn.

"No way. Ugly like that can just sleep outside where it belongs," Eustace said furiously before turning his attention back to Courage. "And why are you still sitting there? Get my raincoat."

Courage whined, but did as he was told and went to the front door. Just as he was going out, Avery groaned and grabbed an umbrella from the closet real quick.

"Hang on Courage. I'll go with ya," Avery said while Eustace just crossed his arms and shook his head at her.

"You and Muriel baby that dog way too much," Eustace said irritably.

Avery opened up the umbrella and said, "Because I'd shudder to think about what would happen if he didn't get ANY love."

Eustace glared, but Avery didn't care. She opened the umbrella and held it over her and Courage as they walked across the yard. Avery kept her eyes on the ground, not just for possibly deep mud but she also kept her eyes on any puddles that were forming on the ground. Just in case.

'Not gonna get caught off guard,' Avery said in her head. 'Not gonna get caught off guard.'

It didn't take long for them to reach the barn and Avery was so relieved as they stepped inside. Both her's and Courage's feet were caked in mud and some of it had splattered onto Avery's jeans as well. The shoes she wore were completely coated and would need to be cleaned.

"Great! I really need to get some boots," she said out loud and then looked to Courage with a shiver. "Alright lets grab the forsaken raincoat and get back. It's chilly out here."

Courage nodded and was just grabbing Eustace's raincoat, but he paused when he heard a gentle ringing sound. Avery heard it too and looked around the barn from where she stood to see if she could pinpoint it's location. This was followed by a different pitched ringing and then another and then another. It had no melody, yet still sounded wonderful at the same time.

"Bells?" she asked herself. "Where's it coming from?"

Courage raised one ear and followed the sound of the bells. He climbed up the ladder to the loft and Avery followed close behind him. And as they reached the top, Avery wanted to pull back some. In the loft, was the hunchbacked man again and with him was a set of bronze bells and was ringing them one after the other, never ringing the same bell twice in a row, producing a sweet sound with each ring. The only bell he neglected was the smallest one as it sat alone and unused.

Courage climbed into the loft from the ladder as Avery stood behind, transfixed by the sound of the bells. He walked over to the Hunchback as he continued to play the bells, but Courage grabbed the small bell and rang it. With that, the Hunchback grabbed an extra bell as did Courage and they just sat there and rang them. Avery smiled at the sight and even let out a giggle. The man heard the sound of Avery's giggle and turned his head towards her. He frowned and began to put his bells away, but he stopped when Avery spoke up.

"No no! You don't have to stop, you can keep going. It's just... they sound beautiful," she said.

The man looked back at her and said, "I don't know. I'm not exactly... welcome here."

Avery sighed and said, "Listen, I'm sorry I screamed when I first saw you. That was really more out of startlement and not because of... well..."

"My ugliness?" the man asked. "Don't worry, you can say it. I'm really not ashamed of it. I just don't like how people react to how I look and then act cruel about it."

"Hey listen," Avery said as she climbed up the ladder and into the loft. "I know people can be harsh, I know I've been there on both sides. But it's always best to not let that hold you down and still try to offer a helping hand whenever possible. You may not look appealing to the eye. but you've already show true beauty through your work with your bells. And since my uncle doesn't know you're here, I'll let you stay up here tonight."

The man smiled and said, "Thank you young lady. And I'm sorry I scared you earlier."

Avery smiled as well and said, "Think nothing of it. Consider it as part of my own apology."

Courage nodded and babbled something that they couldn't understand. All three laughed, as Avery and Courage had forgotten why they had originally come out there.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Avery asked.

* * *

For the next several minutes, Avery sat and watched as Courage and the Hunchback played together in the barn. They started off just doing a little trapeze act that the Hunchback had quickly set up. How he accomplished it was a mystery for Avery, yet she couldn't help but smile and laugh as Courage's turn came. Yeah he shook and whimpered a little bit, but eventually he did find the will to kick off from the loft while still clutching the trapeze bar. As soon as he reached the highest point of it, he lost his grip and fell down below.

The Hunchback then grabbed the bar as it came back to him and kicked off again. Avery however kept her eyes on Courage to make sure he didn't hurt himself. She was relieved to see him get caught by a haystack right under them, but was bounced back up by the stack and was at risk of falling again. Avery felt relief wash over her as soon as the Hunchback came back and was able to grab Courage. He swung back across the barn and as he came back, he released Courage, causing him to bounce off the haystack again. Even though he screamed, Avery could tell by the pitch it was by instinct rather than fear.

The Hunchback swung back once more and released the bar. He fell to the haystack below and passed Courage along the way. Courage flew up as high as he could and then began to fall once more, but the Hunchback bounced off of the haystack and came up once more, grabbing Courage and taking him up with him. The trapeze bar came back as well and the Hunchback grabbed it and swung them both back over to Avery and to safety. He jumped to an upper wooden beam in the barn and he jumped from there and they both landed right next to the bells.

Courage sighed in relief as he landed and then rung the smallest bell again. The three then began to laugh and Avery clapped her hands, giving them as close to an applause as she could give them.

"Bravo! Bravo you guys. That was amazing," Avery said excitedly.

The Hunchback and Courage both bowed as Avery continued to clap.

The Hunchback smiled and said, "Thank you! Thank you! It's been so long since I've done that."

Avery calmed down her claps and asked, "Where'd you learn to do that anyway?"

The Hunchback sat back down and said, "When I was a younger man... back when I was more appealing to look at, I had performed in the circus. I'd ring bells for my act, so many bells that the audience simply loved. I made friends with the trapeze artists and I would watch them perform and sometimes they'd teach me how to do it. I never got to perform the trapeze act, but I did practice it whenever I could. This was my first time performing it for an audience."

Avery was amazed. This man was an experienced performer with a true passion in his heart and a desire for an audience. But from what she was told, he used to be more appealing looking. What exactly had happened to him to make him so deformed?

"So how did you become so... different?" she asked.

He shuddered and said, "I'm not really comfortable talking about it. Let's just say that what happened not only did this to me, but also destroyed the circus I had worked for. I've been on the road alone ever since."

Avery wanted to gasp, but couldn't find the will to do so. Instead she looked at him sympathetically and was about to give him some condolences, but the arrival of a certain someone in the barn prevented her from doing so.

"COURAGE! AVERY!" came Eustace's angry voice.

Both Courage and Avery froze at the sound of Eustace's voice. They had both heard him angry before, especially towards the both of them. But he had never sounded this mad before. True in order for him to be out here he had to have walked out here in the rain and who wouldn't be angry after that? Courage shushed at the Hunchback in order to keep him quiet. All three of them crawled to the edge of the loft and looked down.

Eustace was at the bottom of the ladder, looking around the barn the in search of them.

"Where are you two!?" he called out as he looked around.

Avery turned to the Hunchback and whispered, "Hide."

The Hunchback nodded and Courage was able to push him back into a haystack in the loft. He climbed down the ladder of the loft and down to Eustace.

He glared down at him and said, "Where's my raincoat you stupid dog?"

Courage began to babble at Eustace and Avery heard the sound of the Hunchback stick his head out of the stack.

"Psst! Pssst!" he called out and held the raincoat out to her.

She took the raincoat from his hand and said, "Thanks."

She walked to the edge of the loft and held up the raincoat and said, "I got it right here Uncle Eustace."

He looked up at her and said, "Well? I'm waiting."

Avery sighed and dropped the raincoat and let it fall down to him. He caught it and slipped it onto his body. As he did, he looked down at Courage and began to smile sadistically at him.

"Know what I have for you?" he maliciously asked the little dog.

"Uncle Eustace, don't," Avery called out.

Courage whined and shook his head, fearing what was coming next. He was right as Eustace covered his own eyes and did the popping out eye scare again. Courage screamed extra hard this time and Eustace just laughed his cruel sadistic laugh.

Avery shook her head and said, "Uncle Eustace you're going too far with this new routine."

Eustace stopped laughing and turned his attention towards his niece.

"You get down here right now young lady," he commanded her in a very cold tone.

Avery froze and gulped. She had heard her uncle use some very angry tones before, but that was the first time in years he had used that tone with her. With jittery hands in combination of fear and the chilled air around her, she climbed down the ladder and stood in front of him.

He glared at her and said, "Well? What were you doing out here for so long? I sent you both out here twenty minutes ago to get my raincoat. And I come in here to see a mess in the barn."

Avery looked around and saw what he meant. The haystack that Courage and the Hunchback had been bouncing on was now a mess and the trapeze bars were still gently swaying above her head. She was about to deny it, but didn't want to risk their new visitor being discovered. There'd be no preventing him from searching the barn if she had told him that she wasn't the one, even if he didn't believe her. So she decided to just bite the bullet and take whatever was coming to her. After all, he did have reason to be angry with her right now anyway.

"Yeah. Sorry about that," she said as she looked into his eyes, her usually stoic demeanor failing her.

Eustace did not calm down at all as he continued to look down at her and said, "Sorry doesn't fix this. You are going to clean up this mess and then come back to the house. And since you insist on acting like a child, you're going to be treated like one in return. For the rest of the week, you're sleeping in the basement."

Avery's jaw dropped at the punishment her Uncle had laid out for her and was about to argue it, but he beat her to the punch.

"No arguments. As long as you live under MY roof, I will treat you as you ACT. Do you understand?" he said angrily.

Avery sighed and simply said, "Yeah."

Eustace nodded and said, "Good. Clean up this mess and then come inside." He then pointed at Courage and said, "And I had better not see YOU in the house for the rest of the night. You can sleep out here."

With that he walked past her and left the barn making Courage whine. Avery watched him leave and could feel a tear of fear come to her eye, but was able to wipe it away. Courage pulled at her hand and pointed back up to the loft, but she shook her head.

"No, you go ahead boy. I'm just going to clean this up and do as Uncle Eustace said. I don't need to get in more trouble," she said to him.

Courage whined, but still complied by climbing up the ladder back to the loft as Avery grabbed a pitchfork off the wall and began scooping the spilled hay back onto the pile. Thankfully she was able to scrape most of it back into the stack and before long she had it back together again. As she placed the pitchfork back in it's place, she heard the sound of Courage and the Hunchback laughing again.

Curious, she looked back up to the ceiling to see that they had a flashlight on and were making silly shadow puppets with their hands. The one they were making now was of a bunny that suddenly turned into multiple bunnies. She couldn't help but laugh as well. Next was the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which made Avery wonder how they were so good at shadow puppets. After that was a butterfly and frog and Avery burst out laughing when the frog ate the butterfly. She watched for another minute, laughing at each shadow before she decided that she had pushed her luck enough. She grabbed her umbrella and left the barn.

* * *

Avery walked into the house, thankfully not to her uncle but her aunt instead who was walking back up from the basement. She frowned as she looked at Avery.

"Sorry about this dear. I did try to talk him out of it, even got him with my rolling pin, but he was insistent on punishment. You know there's no talking anything out of him," Muriel said solemnly.

Avery nodded and said, "Thanks anyway. I did kinda make a mess in the barn though and I can't blame him for being mad about that."

"I set ya up a cot in the basement. Even got ya some extra blankets to keep ya warm. Basement's going to be cold tonight," Muriel said.

"Thanks," Avery said noting how cold she still was. "Where's Uncle Eustace right now?"

"He had to go into town on an errand. I recommend getting ready for bed before he gets back because he was still pretty mad when he left," Muriel said as she walked out of the room.

Avery took her aunt's advice and did as she recommended. She got cleaned up and dressed for bed. Her uncle was just getting home as she was was standing in the living room and he still looked pretty mad as he was getting out of his truck. So she decided now would be the best time to slip downstairs. She stepped down the stairs and sat down on the cot that sat in a corner of the basement.

The basement itself was rather bleak looking. With a concrete floor and very few items spread around the place like the furnace, a few boxes and a nightstand by the bed. This wasn't her first time spending the night down here. Used to when she visited, she'd act out a few times and every time it really made her uncle mad, she'd end up spending the night in the basement. Even all these years later, the basement still frightened her.

She shivered as she wrapped her hands around her bare arms, both out of fear and the cold air. She could hear her uncle walking around up above and could hear him getting a little worked up as he started raising his voice. She slipped her slippers off of her feet and lied back in bed, wrapping a blanket around her and letting the warmth of the blankets comfort her. She turned out a lamp on the nightstand and listened to the sounds of the basement.

Mostly it was just quiet, but given enough time she could hear a rumble come from the furnace and a creak from the stairs as they settled. It was all so eerily familiar and creepy at the same time. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds it made. All she could do was hope that Courage would be alright out in the barn tonight with the Hunchback to keep company.

Oh how she wished he was nestled with her right now.

* * *

The very next morning, Avery quietly came up the stairs and was pleased to see that it was just her aunt in the kitchen right now. She crept upstairs and noticed that her uncle was still in bed as she passed his bedroom door. She did NOT want to have to deal with him this early after last night. So she quietly slipped past his room and up to hers. She dressed for the day and rejoined her aunt in the kitchen as she cooked some pancakes.

"Morning aunt Muriel," Avery greeted her aunt.

Muriel smiled at her said, "Morning dear. Did you sleep well down in the basement."

Avery sighed as she took a seat at the table and said, "As best as one can. That place still gives me the creeps."

Muriel came over, set a pancake on her plate and said, "Gives me the creeps when I just walk down there for only a moment. Sorry about sleeping down there."

Avery shrugged and said, "It's just for a few nights. Just wish Uncle Eustace wouldn't get so worked up so much. It can't be good for his health."

It was about here that the backdoor opened and Courage walked back into the house. Muriel smiled as she saw him and patted him on the head as he stood by the table.

"Oh Courage, I was afraid you'd get wet and cold out in the barn all night," Muriel said and then returned to the stove. "You're just in time for breakfast."

The door opened again and Avery looked to see the hunchbacked man peeking into the kitchen through the door, sad expression on his face. Avery saw him and gave him a friendly little wave. Muriel looked to the door and Avery half-expected her to be a little scared as well. But she was happy to see her aunt still smiling as she looked to him and beckoned him inside.

"Come in, come in," Muriel said as she offered him a seat at the breakfast table across from Avery. "A friend of Courage is always welcome here."

The man gratefully took a seat across from Avery and Courage took the seat next to him.

Muriel went back to the stove to serve up the pancakes and said, "I was so worried Courage. But I'm happy now."

She came back over with the plates of pancakes and set them down in front of the two who began digging into them hungrily. Avery even began eating hers. It was then that she could hear more footsteps approaching the kitchen from the dining room.

Avery knew what was about to happen and said quietly to the two, "Okay guys. Get ready for what I think is about to happen."

Eustace came walking into the kitchen and, as they expected, screamed at the sight of the hunchbacked man, causing Avery, Courage and the Hunchback to cringe at the sound of his scream. Muriel even turned to Eustace with a gasp.

'Saw that coming,' Avery said in her head.

Eustace came storming over to the table pointing at the Hunchback and said, "Didn't I tell you we got no place for the likes of you? Now get and stay out."

Muriel came over to Eustace to put in her two cents and said, "Now Eustace, he's Courage's friend."

"That makes it worse," Eustace retorted which got him glares from Muriel and Avery.

Muriel tried to cool her demeanor and said, "Now Eustace, don't make a fuss. Sit down and eat your breakfast. I'll even get those little blueberries you like so much."

Eustace grumbled irritably as he complied and took a seat near Courage. Avery sensed that he was about to be a jerk again and just sat there as he began going off on the poor man again.

"You know how you spell ugly?" he asked with a wicked smirk on his face as he began pointing at the poor man. "U! You! You! You! You! You! You!"

The man looked down and defeated until a small furry hand popped up from under the table. Avery raised an eyebrow and looked under the table to see Courage giggling and writing something on little slips of paper and then handing it up to the Hunchback. Avery smiled as she prepared to see where this was going.

The Hunchback put on some reading glasses as he read off the note.

"And you sir are extremely bald," he said and then crossed his arms.

Eustace babbled in anger as Courage laughed and continued writing down on the slips of paper. Avery even smiled at her uncle's misfortune. He was making her sleep in the basement this week, so any misery for him was amusing to her currently.

"Oh yeah!" Eustace said as the smirk returned to his face. "Well YOU look like something the cow spit up."

Courage handed the Hunchback another slip of paper that the Hunchback read off, "And you sir are extremely bald."

Eustace was now steaming in anger and began having trouble coming up with a good retort. Avery let out a laugh and Eustace turned to her angrily.

"Want to spend next week in the basement as well?" he asked angrily.

Avery held up in hands in mock defeat as Eustace began his next shot.

"The only thing uglier than this," he said as he held a round handheld mirror to the man and then pulled out a square one. "Is this."

He chuckled at his own joke as Courage handed off another slip of paper to the Hunchback.

"Are you bald?" the Hunchback mock asked. "Yes!"

By now, Eustace was done. He growled as he stood up from the table and raised his fist. It was here that Muriel returned with a large bowl full of blueberries. She did not look happy to see him acting up.

"Eustace, do you have no sense of hospitality?" she asked.

And with a goofy smile, Eustace said, "Nope."

Muriel then placed the bowl of berries into Eustace's hands and said, "Well then, you can take your breakfast and eat it in the hen house."

Eustace muttered glumly as he went to the door and said, "But... but... he called me bald."

Muriel smiled at Eustace's misfortune as she reminded him, "Eustace, you ARE bald."

Eustace stomped on the ground and said, "Well keep him out of MY sight."

He stepped outside into the still pouring rain and Avery smirked and said, "Sounds like a good compromise to me."

"Now why don't you three go out and play?" Muriel said to Courage, Avery and the Hunchback.

Avery pointed out the window with her thumb and said, "It's kinda still raining out there Aunt Muriel."

Muriel set a stack of pancakes down on the table for herself and said, "Ah when we were little we had loads of fun playing in the rain. You used to as well when you were a wee girl."

Avery chuckled and smiled at that. It's true, when she was a little girl she had enjoyed playing out in the rain, be it at home in Florida or here on the farm. She had to admit, the idea seemed appealing to her. But she really wanted to avoid puddles for the time being so she was good.

"I recall. Still, I think I'll be fine staying dry," she said as Courage and Hunchback went back outside.

Muriel shrugged and said, "Suit yourself."

* * *

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Courage and the Hunchback spent the entire day either playing in the rain or going into the barn to play with the bells again. The only time they really came inside was for some lunch, but not much else. Eustace even stayed quiet for most of the day, mainly because he stayed inside and away from the Hunchback. Avery mainly helped her aunt with the housework throughout the day seeing as there was nothing else to do right now due to the ongoing rain storm.

As the sun went down, the rain still poured. It took some convincing, but eventually Muriel was able to get Avery to join her outside by the barn to listen to Courage and the Hunchback play the bells. Muriel had taken her rocking chair outside and Avery had set up an umbrella to keep her aunt dry.

They looked up as they listened to the sweet sound of the bells and watched as Courage and the Hunchback played them as they had the night before. Never the same bell twice in a row and keeping harmony with one another. There was no other way to describe the sound other than pure heavenly bliss.

The one issue that Avery noted was that the Hunchback was wearing Eustace's raincoat. Avery knew what would happen if Eustace came out here and saw the Hunchback wearing his raincoat. She figured it'd be fine since Eustace rarely came out in the middle of a rainstorm without his raincoat. Then again, things were different the night before.

She still stood there, under the umbrella and listening to the show, But then she turned her head and saw Eustace approaching in the darkness.

'Oh crap!' Avery screamed in her head as he approached.

He stepped up to them and said, "What do you think you two are doing."

Avery froze and said, "Uncle Eustace, I-"

Muriel beat her to the punch and said, "Enjoying the concert. Get your chair."

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" Avery whimpered as her uncle looked up at the duo as they took a bow.

Eustace pointed up the two in anger and said, "That thing and my raincoat!"

He dashed inside the barn and began climbing up to the roof.

"Uncle Eustace no!" Avery screamed out and tried running after him.

However, a sudden jolt from her bracelet pulled her back and kept her frozen in place right under Courage and the Hunchback. She tried to step forward, but it was like her feet were glued to this spot. No matter how hard she tried, she could only watch as Eustace climbed out onto the roof and confronted the duo.

"Get your ugliness out of my coat!" Eustace hollered, rage building up inside of him.

The hunchback complied and slid the coat off his body and handed it over to Eustace, who swiped it roughly out of the poor man's hand.

"That's it!" Eustace said angrily and pointed to the horizon. "Now you just keep walking til I can't see you no more."

Avery cringed at her uncle's outburst of anger. She'd seen him mad plenty of times, but never like this. Usually when he was angry, he began to lose all sense of his surroundings. And as she saw the amount of water pouring off the shingles of the barn, she could see how dangerous the situation was getting.

"Uncle Eustace, please get down off the roof!" Avery called out.

"Don't hurt yourself Eustace!" Muriel added as well.

Eustace ignored them and turned his anger towards Courage.

He stared Courage down and said, "You stupid dog! It's ALWAYS your fault!"

'Apparently he forgot the slab incident,' Avery said in her head.

Courage looked down and whined, but Eustace wasn't done with him yet.

"Look at me," Eustace said still angered.

Courage did just that and as soon as he did, Eustace pulled the popping out eye gag once more. Courage screamed in terror and began backing towards the edge of the barn roof, almost falling off the edge. Avery felt her heart pounding in her chest as she watched. She wanted to get up there and stop this, but the bracelet wouldn't let her even let her move. She figured the bracelet was doing some self preservation due to the perilous nature of the roof, but for right now she didn't care. Courage was in danger and Eustace was putting himself into danger. All she could do was stand there and watch the events unfold. Especially once Courage slipped and was clinging to the roof to keep himself from falling.

"Courage!" both Avery and Muriel shrieked.

The Hunchback however, was not about to leave yet. He turned back to Eustace and this time, it was HIS turn to make the confrontation.

"What did that little dog ever do to you?" the Hunchback demanded angrily and began walking towards Eustace.

Eustace began back up from the approach and said, "I... I told you to get."

But the Hunchback didn't stop as he continued his approach and his tirade against the old farmer.

"What goes around comes around. Do you really want to see ugly?" the Hunchback said angrily.

Eustace backed up even further and was now standing on the edge of the roof, stammering now as he had now lost control of the situation. He didn't get to answer as the Hunchback pulled out his trump card.

He reached behind his back, putting on a mask that looked just like Eustace and said, "Stupid dog."

Eustace screamed at the sight of his own ugly nature and backed up even further, until he lost his footing and fell from the roof, grabbing onto the edge of it to try to pull himself up as he screamed for help. Courage managed to pull himself up to the roof proper and he and the Hunchback reached down to try to pull Eustace up. But due to the slick rain, he quickly lost his grip and fell from the roof.

Avery watched as her uncle fell and was jolted as the bracelet moved her again. This time, she was to pulled to just underneath him and sent another shock through her body. She braced herself as she opened her arms and her uncle slammed into her as he fell to her, sending them both to the ground.

"Eustace!" Muriel said in alarm. "Are you alright?"

Eustace began to groan from the pain of the fall, a more pained groan than usual. Avery helped him back up to his feet, but his groans wouldn't stop as he got back up. But as he tried to walk, he'd limp slightly.

Muriel took hold of him and said, "Come on Eustace. Let's get you inside and I'll call the doctor."

Avery looked down at her bracelet and said, "Good call. That could have been worse."

She looked up to see both Courage and the Hunchback looking glum.

* * *

About an hour later, the rainstorm finally let up. The doctor had come and gone already. He had assured them that Eustace would be just fine as he had simply sprained his back in the fall and that it would have been worse if his niece hadn't caught him. A few days in bed would be enough to do him some good. The fall even may have been the lesson Eustace had really needed, because as soon as he was lucid again, he ended Avery's punishment and told her she could move back into the attic.

Avery was thankful for this, but as she looked out the window she could tell that not everything was in good spirits. Both Courage and the Hunchback stood out in the yard, still looking glum. Avery sighed as she looked out at them and both she and Muriel stepped outside to see the Hunchback off, knowing that he wouldn't want to stay after that.

The Hunchback stood with Courage and said, "I think it's time I left."

But as he turned to leave, Courage latched onto his arm for a second with a whine. As the Hunchback turned back to him, Courage pulled out the tiny bell again and rang it for him. The Hunchback laughed merrily and then, to Avery's surprise, he pulled out a giant bell from nowhere and rang it once with a loud ring. This caused the both of them and Avery to start laughing. Muriel stood with Avery and smiled at the sight of the two friends enjoying one lest bell session together.

As soon as their laughter died down, the Hunchback wandered out into the road and looked to them one last time.

"Hey before you go, I'm still sorry about screaming when I first saw you," she said.

He nodded and said, "It's quite alright. Thank you for showing me kindness after. I hope I find more people like you out there."

"I'm sure you will," Muriel said as he turned to continue his journey.

"And one more thing," Avery said and the Hunchback turned back to her. "Don't let a few cold hearted people discourage you. Kind people exist everywhere, even in unlikely places."

He smiled and said, "Thank you young lady. Hopefully we all meet again some day."

And with that, he turned back to the road and walked off, chuckling into the night.

* * *

**I'm honestly glad this episode doesn't end on a joke like almost all of them. I just wish we could have had the Hunchback return one more time in the series. But then again, sometimes a character only needs one appearence to have the most powerful impact.**

**Next episode on the list will be Gods Must Be Goosey. It's a very silly episode. **


End file.
